Unreal
by x-Shadow-x
Summary: It's the end of the World Tournament, and Kai is on edge because the team are staying in Russia a little longer. Kai gets an anonymous note telling him to leave quickly. Why? Epilogue up for those who wanted to see a continuation. Enjoy!
1. Hiding Behind Bars

Unreal

S/N: This is my first fic for Beyblade, so I'm pretty nervous as to the response its going to get. Any constructive criticism or creative advice and/or help are greatly welcome. As for flames…you flame me, I flame you. It's a vicious circle. Take your chances if you like, but I can be damn evil when I want to be. Enjoy!

One

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It's like some kind of nightmare

That I can't escape from

Is this all a dream?

Please let it be a dream

So I'll wake up and be safe

And not have to hide in the shadows of my mind

Forever…

Russia.

Incredibly cold at this time of year. Cold at a lot of times in the year, but it wasn't like the weather really bothered Tyson. He had just been crowned World Champion, and he could be standing in the Arctic for all he cared. He was on top of the world. Though technically the Bladebreakers were no longer a team, and the amount of relief that gave Kai was endless, Tyson insisted on doing a few things with them before they went home.

"How about the World Champ buys us all dinner?" Max suggested cheerfully. Tyson looked aghast at the thought of having to pay for his friends to eat, but he smiled all the same.

"If I had the money to, Max, I would. But I'm broke…" Tyson's gaze fell on the unsuspecting Mr Dickinson. Mr Dickinson blinked, and finally caught on to the reason Tyson had been glaring at him for the last five minutes.

"Don't worry boys, I'll pay," Mr Dickinson said, with a heavy-hearted sigh. He knew exactly what he was in for now: an All-You-Can-Eat buffet line. And considering the amount Tyson ate, Mr Dickinson wouldn't have been surprised to have been filing for bankruptcy months ago. Tyson leapt up and down, punching the air.

"Oh yeah!" he cheered. "Dinner's on Mr D!" he then proceeded in running off down the road to find a good-quality All-You-Can-Eat buffet restaurant. He was followed by Max and Kenny, with Ray following slowly behind, as he was still on his crutches after his run-in with the Demolition Boys. Kai followed on behind Ray, not seeming too excited about the thought of eating. In fact, Kai never seemed to think a lot about eating. He didn't really do it a lot either.

"Come on Ray! There's a great restaurant just up here!" Tyson called from up ahead. Ray smiled and picked up his pace a bit, but as he started to stumble, Mariah put his arm over her shoulders and walked with him. This made it a lot easier on Ray's part, and for her help he was grateful. Ray looked back every so often to make sure Kai was still following them, and sure enough, their cold former team captain was still behind, not really paying much attention to anything or anyone.

'Typical of Kai,' Ray smiled, returning his focus back onto Tyson, Max and Kenny, whom he and Mariah were now closing in on.

"Check this place out!" Tyson beamed, ushering his friends inside. He even waited at the door for Kai, which did surprise the older teen, but he chose not to show it. It was another All-You-Can-Eat job, and they all knew Tyson was going to be the happiest here. Mr Dickinson got a table and the six of them sat down to eat; Tyson, Max, Kenny, Ray, Kai and Mariah. Mr Dickinson decided it would be best if he sat on a separate table, as he had seen the speed at which Tyson ate before, and he didn't want to see it again. They all went to the buffet line and got large platefuls of food, save Kai, then they all sat back down and began to eat.

"This stuff is great!" Max cried, showing some manners by waiting until he'd finished his mouthful before he spoke.

"I know! Talk about awesome!" Tyson agreed, displaying is apparent lack of manners for all to see. Kai frowned, looking down at the glass of water in front of him, and said nothing.

"Aren't you hungry Kai?" Ray asked, as he was sat beside Kai and had noticed his companion's icy expression.

"No," Kai replied monotonously. "Watching Tyson eat is enough to make me lose my appetite." Ray looked over at Tyson, and in a way agreed with his friend. Tyson was eating like he hadn't seen food in years. It was off-putting, and Ray now understood why Mr Dickinson hadn't joined them.

"Kai just doesn't like eating, do you Kai?" Tyson said, finishing his mouthful before doing so, which was a first for him. Kai shot Tyson a death stare, and Tyson shuddered, returning back to his eating. Kai had his reasons for not being hungry. He hadn't really eaten a decent meal for a few years now. He really didn't see a point in winding up like Tyson.

"So what's next for you guys?" Mariah asked once she had cleaned her plate. "Are you all just going home?"

"Hmmm…" Tyson thought for a few moments. "I'm not really sure! Well, the Bladebreakers aren't a team anymore, so I can't really speak for the team here, but I'm planning on hanging around here for a while, then maybe going home. There's so much of Russia I still want to see, and I'm sure there's still a lot I can learn!"

'Hyne…' Kai thought. 'I don't want to stay here…'

"Yeah! That sounds like a good idea!" Ray agreed. He looked over to Kai. "What do you think Kai? We could learn a lot by staying here a little longer." Kai didn't want to answer. He knew that if he did, he'd be forced into staying, although he really didn't want to. Because in Russia was the one place he wanted to leave behind him: The Abbey. He wanted to forget that dreadful place, and leave it as just a bad memory in the back of his mind. Hadn't these people ever heard of moving on?

"I'd rather just go home," Kai replied, not even looking at his friends.

"But Kai! Max is going to stay! Right Max?" Ray said, beginning to plead his case. Max nodded.

"I'm staying too," Kenny added. "You don't want to fly back to Japan alone now, do you?"

'Oh, the temptation…' Kai sneered to himself.

"Of course he doesn't!" Tyson replied for Kai. "He's our friend! He's one of us now, so he's not flying back alone! I say the whole team stays here for a few extra weeks!"

"Totally!" Ray agreed. "What about you Mariah? Where are The White Tigers headed?"

"We're on our way to southern Europe. The Majestics have decided to give us a tour around Europe, so we'll be hitching a flight with them tomorrow morning," Mariah replied.

"Oh yeah…this is the first time your team have been allowed out into the world! I forget that sometimes!" Kenny said. Mariah nodded.

"We wanna see as much of the world as we can, so we can become better Bladers," Mariah added.

"So it's settled! All the former members of the Bladebreakers are staying here in Russia for an extra three weeks!" Tyson stated, lifting up an empty glass and banging it on the table three times. "Notion passed!"

'Great…an extra three weeks in Russia, oh I can hardly wait,' Kai's sarcastic remarks were now creeping into his thoughts as well.

"Say…" Ray began. "I wonder what happened to Boris and that creepy training centre?" Kai froze. They just had to bring it up.

"That's a good question," Kenny replied, opening up Dizzi onto the table, brushing his clean plate aside as Tyson went back for his seventh helping. "The Demolition Boys and Boris just vanished once the tournament was over. I know that the Biovolt leader, Voltaire, was caught and arrested by Russian authorities as he tried to escape the stadium, but that still leaves Boris…" suddenly a huge commotion erupted at the front desk.

"Listen, lady, I have orders to deliver this message to Kai Hiwatari, and unless you know who he is, then you'll get out of my way!!" a man's voice yelled to one of the waitresses. Upon hearing his name, Kai got out of his seat and made his way over to the irate man.

"I'm Kai Hiwatari, so why don't you just stop causing such a racket and give me the message," Kai demanded. The man looked at Kai and sneered.

"Here ya go sport," the man said, handing the envelope over to Kai. "Have a nice evening now." and with that the man left. His departing words seemed too satanical to be normal, and this worried Kai. He opened the envelope and read the note inside, not noticing that something dropped out of the envelope and onto the floor.

'Get out of Russia?' Kai thought as he read the letter. 'Who the hell wrote this?' he flipped the piece of paper over several times, but still there was no name or address so that he could locate the sender. Just the words "Get out of Russia you are being watched" were written upon the note. This had to be some kind of joke. Who would want Kai to get out of Russia so badly? Who cared enough to keep Kai out of harm? Obviously the sender had some idea of Kai's history in Russia. He made his way back to the table and said nothing as he was bombarded with questions.

"What was that all about?" Max asked first. No response.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Tyson asked. Still nothing from Kai.

"What does the letter say?" Kenny asked. Kai continued to deny them an explanation.

"Are you going to answer any of our questions at all?" Ray asked, sighing as if admitting defeat. And yet still Kai didn't reply. "I'll take your silence as a 'no' then…"

"Jeez! Who needs you!" Tyson scoffed. "You keep your little letter to yourself then Kai! It's obviously not that important!" he then reaffixed his full attention on his food, and finished his eighth and ninth helpings in no time, and was soon going back for a tenth serving.

"Tyson, I know you must be starving, but some of us are bored and want to leave," Kai said finally after a long awkward silence.

"Namely you I presume?" Tyson said, shovelling his tenth serving into his mouth. He then performed a miracle by putting his knife and fork down. "Man! I'm stuffed! Let's get some sight-seeing done!" Tyson got to his feet and told the waiter to give the bill to Mr Dickinson. The six of them then left.

They wandered around Russia for a few hours, taking in the sights of Moscow, and occasionally stopping along the way because Tyson wanted a hot dog. Kai was beginning to feel weariness overtake him, and was unsure as to whether he'd be able to walk on much further. He was starved, but he didn't want to eat anything. His apparent eating disorder was starting to consume him. Why wouldn't he just admit he wanted to eat and just eat something? Because he was afraid. Afraid of being poisoned, or not holding it down. Whilst he had been at The Abbey, he was frightened to eat because Boris and Voltaire had given him food poisoning on more than two occasions. That was probably what was putting him off. But this wasn't just in Russia; this was in Japan, America, and most of Europe. He seemed to refuse to eat anywhere. Was he that paranoid?

"Hey Kai, you OK? You don't look so good," Ray asked. He was now walking pretty independently, aside from the crutches. Mariah was in a conversation with Max about their Bit Beasts.

"I'm fine," Kai replied, lying through gritted teeth. He felt light-headed and drained, but like he was going to show them any signs of weakness. Before Kai knew what was happening, his vision started to blur and it felt as if the world was spinning frantically around him. He then felt a huge surge of pain through his right shoulder and went blank.

__

Save me

I'm trapped inside a mental prison

I've locked myself behind bars

I don't want people to see me

They won't understand

But I want to be saved

I don't want to die…

SN: Yeah, that's it. I know a lotta people write about Kai, but that's cos he's got an interesting plot to work with! My hugest inspirations are TigerTerror (Coffee Break is awesome!) and treachery89 (A Year To Live is a total classic.) My thanks goes to them!!!

Oh, and you see that little review thingy at the bottom of the page? Click it people!!! Please?


	2. Take It All Away

Two

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I hear you

All around me

Calling out my name

I want to answer

But I'm being held back

He's going to take you away from me

You're going to go away

Just like she did

"Kai?! Kai are you alright?!!" Ray's distressed voice broke through Kai's unconsciousness. When had he fallen asleep? Were they at the hotel and he'd forgotten how they'd got there? Kai had no idea. As his eyes slowly came into focus, he felt a sore throbbing pain in his right shoulder, and he was lying on something cold and uncomfortable.

Oh no.

"Kai are you OK?" Max asked as Kai started looking around him. There was a sea of distressed faces surrounding him. He'd collapsed on the pavement, and attracted a lot of attention in doing so. He heard people around him, whispering amongst themselves.

"He doesn't look very well," said one.

"He's probably got pneumonia," said another.

"Doesn't look like he's been eating very well. Look at how thin he is!" said another.

"He's one of the Bladebreakers," said a young boy.

"I wonder why he passed out so suddenly?" said the boy's mother. Kai frowned disapprovingly and sat up. Ray put one hand on Kai's back and the other on his chest, to try and slow his ascent.

"Take it easy Kai, you took quite a fall," Ray said, helping Kai slowly to his feet. Kai looked around at the people who were just staring at him intently.

"You probably passed out because you haven't eaten in a while, Kai," Tyson said, his arms folded across his chest. "We'll stop and get you something. We can't walk around with you looking like a zombie! And you can't say 'no' to this, because you passed out Kai! You need something in your system!" Kai didn't have the energy to argue with Tyson, and for once he seemed to make sense. What did Kai have to fear now that his Grandfather was behind bars? And without Voltaire empowering him, Boris was helpless too. Kai sighed in defeat, and walked away with the others. The crowd dispersed, the odd person asking Kai how he was feeling, but he refused to respond to them. Tyson stopped outside a fast food restaurant and turned to the others. "I'll be right back," he grinned, walking inside. Ray sat Kai down on a bench and Kenny and Max joined him. Kai hated being fussed over more than anything. He didn't like the thought of people caring about him, and this note about leaving Russia; what was that about?

'Probably just some jerk playing around with my mind,' Kai thought. He couldn't trust his source, and he didn't want to tell the others about the letter. Although he would leave Russia behind at the drop of a hat, he was curious as to why someone would want him out so badly. What if, when he went home, he found himself trapped? 'Just like she was,' Kai remembered. The 'she' Kai was referring to was his mother. He remembered clearly the mess she had gotten herself entangled in. Getting involved with his father, Voltaire's son and heir, was quite possibly the biggest mistake of her life. Kai's father was as evil and conceited as Voltaire himself was, and Kai remembered bitterly watching on helplessly as his father beat his mother until she was dead. After that, he was shipped off to The Abbey, and there he stayed for some time.

"Here we are!" Tyson said as he emerged from the fast food restaurant. "Heck, it's not much Kai, but its something!" Tyson dropped a bag onto Kai's lap and smiled at him, waiting to hear any kind of thank you at all.

"Uh…thanks Tyson…" Kai said slowly, trying his best not to sound like he didn't mean it, but sincerity had never been Kai's strong point. Tyson didn't seem to mind though.

"No problem buddy!" he replied with glee. "We'll just leave you to eat that while we look around the square! Now you make sure you eat all of that now!" Kai couldn't help but laugh. Tyson was trying to be Kai's mother, and though it was a little irritating, Kai felt a sense of gratitude growing in the back of his mind

"See ya in a minute Kai!" Ray said before leaving with Mariah, Kenny, Tyson and Max. Kai sat and watched them walk away before he decided to start eating. Sometimes he got paranoid when he was being watched whilst he was eating. He never understood why.

He was finished long before the others returned, so while he was waiting for them, he decided to shake off the weary feeling he still felt by walking around. It didn't really bother him what he saw, he just wanted to wake himself up, so to say. Due to his lack of attention as to what direction he was going, he bumped into a fair amount of people. One irate Russian man yelled obscenities at him for about five minutes in Russian before letting Kai walk away. Unfortunately for Kai, his years in The Abbey had taught him to speak and understand Russian, so he knew everything that the man had called him. He considered using all this on Tyson, but the very idea of trying to explain Russian cursing to Tyson of all people put him right off.

"Sorry," Kai mumbled as he ran in to yet another person, but this person grabbed his arm viciously before he was able to pass. "Look, mister, I said I was so--" Kai cut his sentence short when he caught a glimpse of the man holding his arm in an iron grip. It was Boris. What was he doing here? Kai looked at him in horror, and didn't want to believe that it was him.

"Are you surprised to see me here, of all places Kai?" Boris sneered. Kai's arm muscles tensed, and he tried to break free of Boris, but he wasn't giving in. "I'm actually rather disappointed that you didn't come looking for me."

"Why would I want to?" Kai asked, a frown on his face to disguise his fear. Boris pressed a vial into Kai's hand.

"You're behind in your medication," Boris replied, a dark smile creeping onto the corners of his lips.

"I told you, I don't need it anymore," Kai said, thrusting the vial back at Boris and relinquishing Boris' grip over his arm.

"Don't lie to me, Kai. You can't lie to me. I've known you since you were a child, and I can tell when you're lying. I know better than maybe even your own father what you need."

"No! I don't need it!"

"Don't make me give it to you by force Kai. Just take it like a good boy now."

"Get bent!" Kai hissed before turning on his heel and running as fast as he could away from Boris. Boris made no effort in giving chase, for a part of him believed that Kai would come back to him. How long would Kai be able to fight his own urges and needs? Boris estimated that it wouldn't be long, and it was then that Kai would return. Kai had no idea of how tight the leash was around his neck, or that Boris had grip of the other end. His heart was pounding as he continued to run. He didn't need his 'medication' anymore. He was past that. Over it. Wasn't he? While he was contemplating this he didn't notice Tyson, Max, Ray, Mariah and Kenny emerge from a shop or that they were now stood directly in his path.

Smack.

Kai fell backwards with a thud, as did Tyson and Max. Ray was balanced up by Mariah, and Kenny just stood by and looked on in bewilderment.

"Kai! What In the world are you doing?!" Kenny asked as Kai, Tyson and Max sat up.

"You sure seemed like you were in an awful rush. Were you being chased?" Max asked, climbing to his feet and extending his hand to assist Tyson up. Kai got up quickly and looked at his friends.

"No," he replied, looking behind him and noticing that Boris was nowhere in sight. He was in the clear. For now.

"Then what in the world were you running so fast for?" Tyson asked, getting a little peeved off.

'Dammit,' Kai thought. 'What excuse can I seriously get away with here?' he opted for saying nothing, as that usually worked very well for him. Tyson just sighed.

"Well, he looks a lot better now, so I guess that's good," Ray broke the silence. Mariah agreed.

"Let's just get back to the hotel now, guys," Kenny suggested, beginning to lead the way back to their hotel.

"Sure, Chief, we've all had enough action for today," Tyson agreed with Kenny. He then proceeded in following the others back to the hotel, Kai taking up the back, as expected.

~~***~~

Kai usually ended up sharing a room with Ray, and there was no exception here. Though the rooms were all linked, he shared a two bed room with Ray, whilst Max, Tyson and Kenny shared a three bed room. Kai was sat on the windowsill, watching the world pass him by. His mind was still infected by Boris' words. He didn't care what Boris thought he knew, he didn't need to go back down that road. He refused to go back down that road. But throughout it all, there was a voice in the back of Kai's mind willing him to go back to The Abbey and talk to Boris. What was he thinking?! Was he really that desperate for Boris' 'medicine'? He knew exactly what it was, and it had no medicinal properties whatsoever.

Boris had convinced Kai at a young age that if he didn't take heroin he would die. He told him that he needed it in order to live. In the naïveté of his youth, Kai had willingly taken heroin as a child, and had become addicted to it very quickly. Some days, Kai would have taken more than Boris had told him to, but it wasn't until he got older that he realised why Boris never seemed to mind when he did that. Boris wanted to get Kai addicted. He thought that by pumping Kai's body with drugs he'd have a better control over him, but when Kai knew the truth, he just became all the more rebellious, and eventually left The Abbey. That was the purpose to the arm guards he wore. They were to hide the scars made by the needles. Kai hated that he was so easily manipulated by Boris when he was young, and Boris was continuing to do it even now. Kai wasn't that naïve anymore. He wasn't the little five-year-old boy he once was when the drug-taking started. He now knew the difference between right and wrong. Well, sort of.

"Hey Kai, are you OK? It looked like you were spacing out for a moment there," Ray smiled, rearranging the clothes in the drawers. He had planned to return home, but after hearing that Tyson was staying here, he had ultimately decided to stay too. So he was unpacking his packed up suitcase. Kai looked over at Ray, and Ray stopped what he was doing. A concerned expression swept over Ray's face, and Kai didn't understand why. "Kai…you've gone really pale…are you feeling sick?"

"No…I feel fine," Kai answered quickly, reaffixing his attention to the window. He heard Ray make his way over to him.

'God, what now?' Kai thought. 'I'm alright Ray, I don't need you breathing down my neck all the time!'

"You're a bad liar, I know you too well Kai," Ray said, placing one hand on Kai's shoulder, causing Kai to shudder slightly.

"Boris said that too," Kai muttered, unaware that he had said what was on his mind a little too loudly, and Ray heard.

"Boris?!" Ray cried in surprise. "Is that why you were in such a rush today? You were running from Boris?"

'Damn!' Kai cursed to himself. 'Can't keep my big mouth shut for five seconds! Now Ray is gonna start asking questions I don't want to give answers to!'

"Kai? Are you going to answer me or what?" Ray asked, putting the pressure on Kai.

"Shut up Ray!" Kai snapped, taking Ray aback. "I don't have to tell you anything! You have no right to be asking personal questions like that, and I don't care if you're worried or not! I don't have to tell you!! So just get lost!!"

"Kai…" Ray was stunned. He'd seen Kai angry, mostly with Tyson, but never at him. He'd obviously struck a nerve.

"Just concern yourself with your own damn problems. I don't need anyone giving me more problems than the ones I have!! Heck, Boris has already added to that by trying to get me to start taking heroin again!!"

"Heroin?!!!" Ray yelled. Oh lord. Kai had done it now.

~~***~~

In an All-You-Can-Eat restaurant in Moscow, a group of four young men were sat around a table solemnly. They weren't eating anything, but the looked to be in some kind of conference. A piece of paper with a small bag taped to it was in the centre of the table. The group's leader, a tall red-haired teen with icy blue eyes, got to his feet.

"This isn't good," he said, looking around at him team. "Kai didn't get the whole message. He's in deeper than we thought."

"How could he have just dropped the most important part of the letter?!" the shortest of the group exclaimed.

"I'm not sure Ian, but we need to find Kai and warn him, his life is in serious jeopardy," the leader reassured his apparently distressed team mate.

"Tala, we owe the Bladebreakers this much. We have to set out to find Kai quickly, or we may be too late," the slate haired teen sitting with them said. "The Bladebreakers helped us to break free from Biovolt. If we do not hurry, Kai will find himself trapped within Biovolt, with no escape."

"I know Bryan, I know…we should start right away. We have to find Kai and the other Bladebreakers, before Boris does."

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I don't need it

I won't take it

You can't force me to want it

Though a part of me craves it

I refuse to fall back

Into who I was

I refuse to be who you want me to be

SN: Yep, that's that. I feel that there's a more sinister plot going on here than Kai is aware of…my question is what's on that other piece of paper? And what's in the little bag taped to it? Well, of course I know, but you'll have to wait and see. As for Kai and the heroin, I checked heroin out on a search engine, and a few of Kai's personality quirks fit into the behaviour pattern of a heroin user, including the loss of appetite one. Freaky…

To all: Heroin is NOT cool, and it is NOT fun. I am not speaking form personal experience, but this is fiction, so don't try using heroin. EVER. I suppose I can use this to raise people's awareness of drugs, so that's neat. Watch on…you just may see the results of drugs later in this fic…

Click the review button…now!! ^_^


	3. Honesty In Blood

Three

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Do I have to explain myself

Every time things go wrong

I'm not always to blame

Just leave me alone

You can't blame me

Just shut up

Shut up

Shut up

"Kai!! You take heroin?!! Are you INSANE?!!" Ray yelled. Kai refused to make eye contact. He'd said enough already, and he didn't have to justify his past actions to someone like Ray. "Kai answer me!!!"

"I don't have to justify my past to _you_ Ray," Kai said eventually, his eyes closed, still refusing to even look at Ray.

"Well, an explanation would be great right about now! I can't believe you'd be so stupid!!" Ray stormed back to his suitcase, and started unpacking his things again, in a more furious fashion. The silence was agonising for Ray, as Kai just stared out of the window and refused to meet his deepening amber gaze. Ray's heart rate sped up. What was going on? He knew Kai was hiding something, and his eyes suddenly caught sight of the letter Kai had received earlier that day. He noticed Kai wasn't paying him any attention, so he made a dart for the note, grabbing it quickly without making too much noise so as to disturb Kai. He read the note over and over again. "Get out of Russia you are being watched? What's that all about?" Ray asked. Kai snapped back to reality, realising in horror what Ray had been reading. He leapt forward and snatched the letter from him.

"It's none of your goddamn business so stop reading my things Ray!" Kai snapped, screwing the note into a ball and putting it in his pocket.

"What are you hiding Kai?" Ray asked, calming down quite significantly.

"Nothing!! It's nothing, alright?! It happened a long time ago, so it doesn't matter anymore alright?!!" Kai growled back. Ray put a hand on Kai's arm gently, but Kai, pulled his arm away at the touch, as if it burnt him.

"Kai, you can't keep hiding behind a wall! You have to let someone in eventually or you'll be alone forever!" Ray said, standing in front of Kai.

"Well maybe I prefer to be alone!!" Kai yelled back. Ray looked at Kai in horror. "I don't mind being alone!! Unlike you and your little groupies! Being alone has always worked out better for me that being with other people!"

"But Kai…we're all friends here…you don't have to keep your problems shut away…you can tell us, and we'll do what we can to help you…"

"You can't help me!! None of you can!! What good is your help if I can't even help myself?!!"

"Kai…calm down…stop yelling…"

"Give me a good reason why I should do anything you tell me to! And if you say anything to do with the fact that we're friends, I don't give a damn!! I don't care!! I just want you to stay out of my life!!" and with that Kai opened the door out into the hallway, and slammed it behind him. Ray ran to the door and down the hall to try and get Kai to come back, but Kai was long gone.

'Damn…' Ray thought. 'This isn't gonna go down well with the guys…but I have to tell them! Whether Kai likes it or not! We may not be a team anymore, but we're still friends! And friends always look out for one another!' with Ray's resolve restored after its crumble at the hands of Kai, he turned back into the room and went to see Tyson, Max and Kenny. It was time they had a talk.

~~***~~

It was dark out on the streets of Moscow. Kai could remember very clearly when he had felt this cold before, but he would rather just forget about what happened on Lake Baikal. He came so close to dying that day, he just wanted to block the memories out. All of the shops were closing up, as the evening lights flickered on and brought some comfort to the dark, bitter streets. Families and couples were gathering in street side restaurants for their evening meal, and everywhere Kai went he could hear the reverie and music of the happier side of Russia. A shudder shot up Kai's spine. He felt as if he were being followed. He whipped around, and yet no one was there. He had the distinct feeling that storming out so suddenly was a pretty bad idea, as he'd forgotten to bring a jacket of any sort with him, and he was shivering with the cold.

'This is my business, not Ray's' Kai reminded himself as he continued walking. 'Ray can tell the others for all I care. It's none of their business either, and they won't get any answers out of me.' Kai looked down at his arm guards, and felt a compelling urge to remove them. He took the left one off slowly, and put it in his pocket. He glared in horror at the state of his arm. It was worse than he had remembered. The needle scars were still there, but the dim light around him made them look darker and more painful. He also noticed bruises running alongside the scars, most likely due to the fact that he'd slipped with the needle when injecting himself, and that his veins were badly inflamed, most likely because of the heroin. But this was all coming out now. Why? He hadn't taken heroin in years. Why were the side effects coming out now?

Kai heard heavy footsteps behind him. His heart started to race as the footsteps drew closer. He picked up his own pace, but the person behind him was still drawing ever so closer. Eventually Kai broke out into a run, and ran through back alleys and barely lit streets. He eventually stopped to catch his breath down a dark and unforgiving-looking alleyway. He used the wall to support himself, his chest was heaving. But there was silence all around him. His follower was gone. Had Kai imagined it all up? He peered around the corner. The streets were once again calm and empty, except for the faint sound of music coming from a local restaurant. Kai ventured back out onto the street, but he was paranoid now. He knew for a fact he was being watched; he could sense someone nearby watching him. He kept his pace brisk, and decided that maybe he should go back to the hotel and go to sleep. He retraced his steps and quickly found his way onto a familiar street. But as he turned a corner a man smacked into him.

"Watch it!" Kai said angrily. The man glared back at him and Kai froze in his steps. Where had he seen a piercing glare like that before?

"Maybe you should watch it, boy," the man said, a dark undertone to his deep voice. Kai recognised the voice, but he didn't know where from. "Young teenage boys like yourself shouldn't be outside at this late an hour when there are people like me around who carry sharp weapons…" Kai gasped in horror. He didn't know who this man was, but there was something hauntingly familiar about him. The man grabbed Kai tightly. Even his grip was familiar. "Don't remember me yet, son? Maybe this will help jog your memory!" the man drew out from his belt a long machete and extended Kai's bare left arm. He rested the blade on Kai's exposed skin and ripped at it repeatedly as if it were paper. Kai bit down on his lip hard to prevent himself from crying out, but the pain was beginning to overwhelm him and he didn't know how long he could keep this up.

"Wait!" Kai cried out, almost in desperation, but more so in realisation. "I…I remember this! You've…done this to me before…"

"That's right…you're remembering now…do you remember how your mother screamed and begged for me to stop? Do you remember how she silently accepted death as I dealt her blow after blow? I remember it well. I saw the tears in your eyes as I slashed at you, but that didn't help you did it? No, it just made me hurt you all the more. Now look at what all the abuse has done for you, Kai. It has made you strong!" Kai's eyes widened. He remembered perfectly now. It was like a nightmare had been reborn into his consciousness.

"No…it's you!!" Kai cried out in horror.

"Yes Kai!! It's me!! Your father!! You hoped that I was dead didn't you?! I thought that after I shipped you off to The Abbey you'd be out of my way, but it looks like our paths have crossed again, my son. I hear you and your little do-good team are the new World Champions. I would be happy for you, but I'm not that kind of a father. Biovolt was weak when my father, Voltaire, ran the company, but if I can reclaim Biovolt as its sole heir then it will flourish! I won't make the same mistakes my senile old father made! I'll do it my way! The world will be my oyster…and you Kai will be dead!!" he ripped off the arm guard on Kai's right arm and continued his ceaseless assault. Kai felt tears start to swell up in his eyes, but he refused to show his father how weak he was.

"Just kill me now and get it over with," Kai said, his father sensing the weakness and the pleading nature in his voice. Kai's father sneered, pulling Kai closer to him. Kai's arms were now stained with blood, and the inflamed veins on his arms had let loose rivers of blood under the mounting pressure. His clothes were now even stained with the dark red substance. Kai kept his eyes tightly closed, too afraid to watch his own death. He heard his father laugh, and he slowly opened them, looking at his father in bewilderment.

"Oh, it's not that simple Kai! You see, your time to die will come, and when it does, I want your friends to be there to watch you fall. I want to enjoy crushing them as they watch you fall into the shadows!" a frightened gasp escaped from Kai's lips unintentionally, but that just made his father laugh all the more. The fear he'd felt at Lake Baikal was nothing compared to the fear he was feeling now. He gathered up all the courage he had left and glared at his father.

"If you seriously believe you can crush the Bladebreakers…you're wrong!" he yelled, wrenching his arm free and making a run for the hotel. The streets were quite crowded now, so Kai's father chose not to pursue his son.

"Until next time Kai…" he said before disappearing into the darkness.

Kai ran across the foyer, a lump developing in his throat as well as a stinging feeling in his eyes. He was about to crack and he knew it. He ran into the lift and repeatedly hit the button for the fourth floor. He kept himself up against the wall, blood dripping everywhere. The stinging in his eyes was getting worse, and his legs felt shaky and weak. The lift doors opened slowly at the fourth floor, and Kai wasted no time in running out and down the hall to his room. He stopped at door, his heart was racing. He was trembling all over, a wild look of fear still in place in his eyes. He slowly turned the door handle and walked into the room. He felt a huge wash of relief to find that no one was in the room waiting for him. Maybe Ray had kept his mouth shut after all. He sat down on the bed, not realising that he was dripping blood everywhere. He felt a tear escape from his eye, but he brushed it away quickly. He felt weak, but he didn't want to show it. He was too proud to show weakness. His breathing became heavier, and his vision faded between clear and blurred. He was growing weaker and dizzier due to the amount of blood he had lost.

He heard the door open behind him, and he got to his feet quickly. He automatically assumed it was Ray, so he made a dash for the bathroom, so that the scars on his arms and the blood wouldn't be noticed. But his path was blocked by two men in black suits, bearing Biovolt's insignia on the arm of the jacket. Kai gritted his teeth and turned to face the intruder. It was Boris.

"Well…you've looked better. Feeling a little suicidal after our last meeting Kai?" Boris asked, sneering.

"Where are my friends?! Where are they?!!" Kai yelled furiously.

"Oh they left not too long ago," Boris replied, advancing on Kai. "They went out looking for you. Your friend Ray knows about the heroin I see…"

"But he also knows that's all the past. I'm not going back to what you wanted me to be; your drone for world domination!!"

"I don't think you understand who the under dog is in this situation Kai," Boris said, as an unusual cloth was pulled over Kai's mouth and nose. He inhaled an unpleasant smelling gas before losing consciousness completely. "Get him to the van. Be careful. Mr Hideaki wants him alive." and with that, the two men carried Kai carefully out of the room and down to the waiting van outside of the hotel. Just as Boris embarked the vehicle and it started up to leave, Ray, Tyson, Max and Kenny walked back into the hotel.

"He's nowhere! Jesus, that guy sure can disappear when he wants to!" Tyson sighed, his hands behind his head. Ray looked down at the floor, his head full of unanswered questions and worries. Where in the world had Kai gone? They all made their way up to their hotel suite and as they stepped into the lift they noticed dark blood staining the walls and the mirrors.

"What happened?" Max looked at the interior of the lift in horror.

"Something bad I'm guessing," Kenny replied, stepping into the lift nonetheless. The others joined him, but just before they were able to go, the White Tigers ran towards them.

"Hold the lift!" Lee yelled, running as fast as he could. He put his hand on the doors and the White Tigers slumped into the lift, exhausted from their sudden bolt. Mariah noticed the blood and screamed.

"What's going on?! Ray?!" she cried, looking over at her former team mate. He kept his gaze to the floor. He wasn't sure about anything that was going on anymore. The rest of the trip up to the fourth floor was a silent one. No one said a word in fear of causing offence or starting an argument. The lift reached the fourth floor, and the two teams disembarked. The White Tigers' room was just across from the Bladebreakers room, so they were both headed in the same direction. That's when they saw more of the blood which stained the walls of the lift, but now it was running all along the corridor, and it ended at the Bladebreakers' door. Both teams gasped when they saw the blood all over the floor, the walls and on the door handle. But the thing about this particular door was that it was the one that lead into Ray and Kai's room.

"What is all this?!" Lee asked in shock.

"What's going on Ray?!" Mariah persisted. Ray looked at the door in shock. It couldn't be…could it?

"Ray…do you think…." Tyson began, sounding hesitant to finish his question. Ray clenched his fists and grabbed the door handle, the blood now staining his own hands. He turned it quickly and ran into the room.

"KAI!!!"

__

Honesty in bloom

Heart on sleeve

Life ever exposed and safe

Courtesy to them and all you know

Cinnamon and cider mills past last night's drenched roof shingles

Down and cotton covered breath

Out in the open with nothing to hide

SN: I found that above little thing in the White Stripes album sleeve thingy. It seemed quirky so I thought I'd use it. But I don't own it!!! Like I do not own Beyblade. Oh how I wish I did sometimes though…

Hugest of thanks to TigerTerror, treachery89, DragonBlade, Identity Thief, kai baby-girl and Disturbed-Child for your kind reviews. And yes kai baby-girl, I refer to home as being Japan, cos I have a hunch he grew up there before going to The Abbey. Anyway, you people made me feel appreciated, and I love that feeling. And that goes for all you anonymous reviewers too! THANK YOU!!!!

*Jedi mind trick time* You are going to review…you are going to be so very nice and review to make me really really happy…now go…review!!! ^___^


	4. Reawaken My Nightmare

Four

__

You can't find me

Keep looking

I'm hiding from you

You can't see what your mind is blind to

You can cry out

You can scream

I won't run in

I can't breathe

Fear and panic overwhelmed Ray as he ran into the room. The walls, the floor and the bed sheets were all stained with blood. Kai's blood. He ran into every room, but Kai wasn't there. Tyson, Max and Kenny ran in after him. All the colour was drained from Max's face.

"Jesus Christ…" Max muttered, looking around at the deep crimson stains that were to be found everywhere in the room.

"Was there a struggle do you think?" Tyson asked Kenny. Kenny shrugged.

"I'm not sure Tyson, but I really wish I knew. This is getting scary. First there's Kai passing out on the street, then there's Kai running into us in the square, then there's Kai taking drugs, and now this!" Kenny replied.

"Someone must want Kai out of the picture pretty badly," Lee said, walking into the room and examining it in horror.

"He's…he's not here!!! He's not here!!" Ray cried, panic was now taking him over completely. Mariah put a hand on Ray's shoulder.

"Ray calm down! Getting worked up won't help us find Kai!" Mariah soothed him. Ray started to take deep breaths. Mariah was right. Getting worked up wasn't helping Kai. Suddenly a strange scent came to Ray's attention. He sniffed at the air.

"What is it Ray?" Tyson asked, puzzled as to his friend's actions.

"Chloroform…someone released chloroform gas of some sorts in here!" Ray exclaimed, recognising the scent. "So Kai came back here, but was kidnapped by someone before _we_ got here."

"Biovolt," Tyson said automatically. "It has to be them, considering Kai's history with them. There's no other explanation!"

"Well, we can't just storm in there and get caught," Kenny said, sitting at a desk and opening up Dizzi. "We have to come up with a plan."

"I've got one word for you Chief: Feds," Dizzi said, as Kenny tapped away at the keyboard of his laptop.

"Getting the Russian police involved may be our only card to play," Kenny agreed with his Bit Beast. "They have all the fire power, they'll no doubt help us in bringing the Biovolt corporation to justice!"

"And if they don't help us, I'm storming in there anyway! I have to get Kai out of there!" Ray said, clenching his fists in anger.

"Kai is important to all of us Ray, so don't go doing anything rash until we've actually asked the police for help, OK?" Kenny said, swivelling round to face Ray. Ray nodded. "Well that's good then. We can't report this until tomorrow, because a kidnapping charge can only be filed 24 hours after the person was last seen. Who saw Kai last?"

"I did," Ray replied.

"What happened between the two of you prior to Kai's disappearance? Did you have a fight?"

"I already told you Chief! Kai and I were arguing over the heroin situation and he got mad, then stormed out!"

"Kai and heroin?!! What's going on here?!" Mariah asked, feeling totally stranded where this situation was concerned.

"When Kai was younger, he took heroin. I don't know all the how's and why's, but I do know he must have gotten addicted, because Boris approached him in the street about it earlier today," Ray replied, clarifying the situation for the bewildered White Tigers.

"I never would have thought of Kai as a fool…" Lee commented.

"He's not a fool!" Ray snapped back. "He was only a kid! How could he have known any better?!"

"OK! Calm down Ray! I'm sorry!" Lee apologised hastily.

"It's alright…if I'd stuck up for him like that in our argument then maybe Kai wouldn't be missing…" Ray trailed off into his own thoughts. Maybe _he_ was responsible for Kai's capture.

"Don't blame yourself Ray," Max said. "None of this could have been helped. Kai never told us about this before, and if he had we could have helped him, and _then_ maybe this would never have happened. But Kai's a loner by nature, so he's not used to telling people anything."

"Yet again it's not the sort of thing you bring up in conversation: 'Oh guys, by the way, I'm a former drug addict and I just want you all to know that in case I disappear and get kidnapped by my Grandfather's former corporation!' That's just crazy!" Tyson said, pacing up and down.

"I don't know if I can wait until tomorrow to go out looking for him…" Ray said, looking at his team.

"Well we have no other option, Ray. It's midnight, and it'd be too dangerous for us to be wandering around the streets. Biovolt will be expecting us, that much I know, but whether they'll be expecting the police is a whole other story," Kenny said, closing up his laptop. "Let's just all get some sleep, and we'll go and tell the police as soon as the morning comes. Does that sound OK?"

"Yeah…I guess…" Ray sighed in defeat.

"Good luck with that," Lee said. "We'll be flying out to Austria tomorrow morning, so I'm afraid we can't help. We wish you all the best though."

"Thanks Lee," Ray smiled. And with that the White Tigers left and went into their own room. The Bladebreakers said their goodnights and went to their beds, but Ray couldn't sleep. He was in his room alone, aside from the blood which stained the walls surrounding him. It drove him insane at the thought of what Kai could be going through.

'Kai…I promise you I'll get you out. I won't leave you to die!' Ray thought, before finally letting sleep take him.

~~***~~

Kai woke up and found himself in a dark, barely lit cell, with a barred door and a barred window. He pulled himself to his feet and examined his surroundings further. It was the most dismal and uninviting place Kai had ever seen. The blood that had once poured out of the scars on his arms was now dried to his skin, and the gashes stood out from everything else. With his arm guards missing, Kai didn't have anything to hide the scars and the blood, so he'd have to do without. He took a step forward, only to fall heavily onto his left shoulder. He heard a loud crack, and swallowed down the urge to scream. He looked down at his legs and found that they were both bound together, and attached by a short chain to the wall.

'Shit…' Kai thought, bracing himself up on his elbows. This couldn't be good, whatever way he looked at it. He had a dark and fearful feeling he was in for discovering a whole new world of hurt. He heard loud footsteps approach the cell, and the silhouette of a man stopped in front of him.

"Ah, Master Kai, so good of you to wake up and join us," the familiar voice sneered down at him.

"Boris!!" Kai growled, but his voice sounded weaker and raspier than normal. "Where am I? What do you want from me?!"

"Oh, I want nothing from you, Kai. Mr Hideaki is waiting to see you," Boris replied, unlocking the cell door and calling two guards to him.

"Mr Hideaki?" Kai seemed puzzled, but he assumed Mr Hideaki was Biovolt's new benefactor. It took him a few seconds to work out who Mr Hideaki was. His eyes widened in fear.

"Yes…that's right Kai…Mr Hideaki: your father," Boris smirked at him nastily. The two guards freed Kai's legs and gripped his arms viciously. "Be gentle with the boy. Mr Hideaki wants the pleasure of making him suffer." Kai frowned, gritting his teeth. He'd been right after all. He was carried out of the cell and down a long corridor. Then he went up some stairs, down another corridor, through a door, then down another corridor. Boris and the guards stopped in front of a large metal door. Boris swiped a card key through a small panel to the right hand side of the door, and the door opened. Boris lead the way in, followed by Kai and the guards. Kai was dropped to the floor and held there.

"So, my son, we meet again. I had a feeling things would be this way," Kai's father said, rising from his chair and walking over to his son. He put one hand around Kai's neck and wrenched him up to his feet. "You are going to suffer in ways you have never suffered before. You'll live to regret the day you betrayed Biovolt!"

"Is that…what all this is over?" Kai choked, barely able to breathe in his father's iron grip. "Get a hobby or something. You can't…threaten me into returning to Biovolt…my days as someone else's slave are over!" Hideaki tightened his grip on Kai's neck, causing Kai to whimper unintentionally.

"You never got it, did you? You were always under my control! I always held power over you! Since you were a child, I have had a leash around your neck, and its been tightening year after miserable year that you exist. I've been waiting for this moment…you'll be with your dear mother again!" and with that Hideaki released his grip, and Kai fell to the floor, gasping for breath. "Your mother loved you more than she loved me. You were with her wherever she went, and whenever I tried to get just a little of her time, you always came first!! I tried to dispose of you many times, but she always had to get in the way! Eventually, I just grew tired of her, grabbed a hammer, and hit her with it until she was dead! And you…yes you, her sweet little angel…I shipped you away to this Abbey, hoping that you'd never hinder me or my family again. But alas, you just had to stick your nose in it! My father is in prison because of you Kai! I'll kill you for what you have done!" Kai looked up at him.

"You deserved…all of it…you…you bastard!!!" Kai yelled. Something cold and hard impacted against his face, and he fell back down to the floor. Hideaki had struck him with an iron bar.

"Don't you dare show me such disrespect!" he hissed. Blood trickled out of Kai's mouth and onto the cold floor. Kai lifted his gaze to meet his father's. "Boris. Fetch the hot iron. I think I need to engrave my point onto my son's back, don't you?"

"Yes sir, that would be a most appropriate punishment for such a terribly badly behaved boy!" Boris sneered, walking away to fetch the hot iron. Kai didn't like how this sounded. And he knew it was going to hurt.

~~***~~

It had felt like an eternity for Ray, who only got a few hours sleep, as he was wracked with worry over Kai. The morning sun broke through his curtains and he tore them open, eager to begin searching for Kai.

'I don't care if the Feds don't get involved,' Ray thought. 'I'll find you Kai. I promise I'll help you and always be there for you.' the door to the next room opened. Tyson, Max and Kenny were already awake.

"I couldn't sleep a wink last night! I was so worried about Kai!" Tyson said, yawning slightly.

"Me too, I only slept for a couple of hours," Ray looked over at his exhausted team. They were physically and mentally drained, but they kept telling themselves that things could be worse. They could be in Kai's shoes right about now, being tortured and mutilated by Boris and Biovolt.

"We should get going, I want to just find Kai and end this insanity!" Max said, livening up a bit. Tyson agreed.

"Let's get to it," he said, leading his team out the door. They didn't know how, but they were going to rescue Kai. They'd been through too much to just let him go now.

~~***~~

"Tala!" Bryan said, running over to his team leader and the rest of his companions. "It has just been confirmed by an insider at The Abbey. Kai has been kidnapped."

"What?!" Tala gasped in alarm. His composure was soon restored. "This is bad. Really bad. Now Biovolt has a new benefactor, I don't even want to imagine what they're doing to Kai right now." there was silence. The only noises that were heard were that of the people around them. They were on a busy street in Moscow, sitting on a bench.

"They're probably killing him," Spencer said, rising to his feet. "We can't let that happen!"

"Yeah! We have to fight Tala!" Ian agreed with his team mate.

"I know you're all eager to assist the Bladebreakers, but I don't think now is the time. We somehow need to get the rest of this letter to Kai. It is vital that he reads it and leaves quickly," Tala decided.

"But Tala! They'll kill him if we don't step in now!" Spencer objected.

"Spencer, the remaining Bladebreakers are already on their way to the police station to sort out freeing Kai. We shall just watch for now," Tala replied, trying his best to calm the raging Spencer. It was all a waiting game now, and Kai's life rested with his friends. How they handled it was up to them.

~~***~~

Kai was roused from what was a peaceful and painless sleep by a sharp kick to the chest. His eyes winced and he glared up furiously at his attacker. Boris.

"Good morning, your father wishes to speak to you," Boris said, stepping aside and allowing Hideaki to enter the cell.

"Good morning to you, my son," he said, trying to pull off sounding cheerful, but it came out satanical. "I hope you slept well."

"I'm sure it would have been better if your little lap dog hadn't kicked me," Kai growled, a smirk playing on his face.

"Well, someone has a lot of bite this morning," Hideaki laughed, ushering in two guards, who grabbed Kai tightly and extended out his blood-stained left arm. "Now Kai, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"How about not doing it at all?" for his snide remark, Kai received yet another kick to the chest, but this time he reacted upon hearing a crack. He knew that meant a rib was broken, and he let out a small cry in pain. Boris laughed, as did Hideaki.

"You're pathetic!" Boris sneered.

"Now Kai…hold very still…because this is really going to hurt…" Hideaki said, placing one hand tightly around Kai's arm to stop the circulation.

"What, more than the burning or the slashing or kicking? Gee, and all this time I thought you were out of ideas," Kai smirked. His apparent sarcasm was rewarded with yet another sharp kick. Another crack, that made two ribs broken. Kai swallowed the urge to cry out this time, and remained silent.

"That's a boy. Keep quiet now…" Hideaki smiled darkly, and drew a syringe filled with a familiar-looking fluid from his pocket. Kai was really frightened now. He knew what this was. Heroin.

"Oh god no…" Kai muttered, loud enough for his father and Boris to hear. "Please…not this…not this…NOT THIS!!!"

__

Here I am again

Back in your arms again

I sense you, my love

So all cannot be lost

As I drift away

Into my own euphoria

Follow me down

Stay with me, love

For I cannot bear to be alone

SN: Part 4 all in the can! Woo!! Poor Kai…I really hate to torture him like this, cos he's my favourite and all, but that's fan fiction for ya! It can get brutal! Expect more torture in the next part, and be prepared for Kai losing control. Come on Demolition Boys, move faster!!!

*waves pocket watch about* You are feeling like reviewing…you are going to review this fic and recommend it to you friends too…now go…review!!! ^__^ hee hee.


	5. Set Free

Five

__

Mamma help me

I can't take the pain

It tears through me

I'm falling apart

Help me to escape

The suffering I cannot endure

Mamma come back for me

I'm crying for you

Why aren't you here yet…

The policeman gave the group a puzzled look.

"So…your friend has disappeared, and you think he's been kidnapped," the policeman recollected everything he was told.

"We know he's been taken, there's evidence to support this," Kenny said. Ray was getting desperate. If this all proved to be a waste of time, he was going to be mad. They were trying to help Kai, not prolong his torment.

"Listen here, buddy," Tyson said, getting ticked off and slamming his fists down on the policeman's desk. "Our friend is being held at The Abbey against his will. We think that he's being tortured, so I think that as law enforcers you should at least check this place out!! There's someone's life at stake here you senseless bastard!!"

"OK! OK! Calm down there!" the policeman pleaded with Tyson to calm down. "I'll take your word for it, and I'll get an armed squad together. We'll storm The Abbey and get your friend out. Does that sound OK?"

"That's better," Tyson smiled. "And you'd better not be lying, or you'll be wishing you were never born." he thrust Dragoon into the policeman's bewildered face. "My friend Dragoon hates being lied to. I'd hate to have to let him maul you, but if you don't help us, I fear I may have no choice…"

"OK!! I'll get onto it right now!" the policeman stammered, getting up from his chair and running off to fetch his armed squad.

"Tyson…you threatened him!" Max said in alarm.

"Well…Dragoon always gets results!" Tyson grinned. Kenny sighed. Tyson always found a way to solve any problem and it often involved using Dragoon.

"I'm saving Driger for Boris," Ray said, clasping Driger tightly in his hand.

"Yeah…Draciel really wants to take a hack at Boris too!" Max agreed.

"I don't know any self-respecting Bit Beast who doesn't want to take a pop at Boris or Biovolt," Tyson added. The policeman returned, with a large group of around 30 men, all armed with rifles and Beyblades.

"Well, we'll need to go to the scene of the crime first, then we'll let you guys lead us to this Abbey, alright?" the policeman said. Tyson nodded, and lead the policemen to the hotel. He just prayed that Kai was holding out.

~~***~~

Kai finally regained consciousness, finding himself tied down to a surgical table of some amends. He'd been throwing up most of the night, so he hadn't slept well, that he could recall, and his back was in agony after his father burnt a long scar all the way down it. He felt terrible. He was sweating and he felt drowsy. He looked around the room, but no one else was in there. Who was seriously stupid enough to leave him alone? He could escape. He looked over at his left arm. There were two swollen lumps on it, and he assumed that whilst he had been unconscious he'd been injected with something else. He didn't want to think what it was, as he'd been sick enough at the thought of having heroin back in his system. Loud metallic sounding footsteps made their way towards Kai. Due to his panic, he was now sweating a lot more, and he suddenly felt a lot more alert.

"Look at who's finally decided to join us," a voice said, belonging to Hideaki no less. He walked into the light and noticed what a bad state Kai was in. "Oh my…it looks like you're suffering from a withdrawal…I'm sure Boris and I can help you out with that."

"Stop it," Kai said, but his voice was so hoarse he barely heard his own words. But Hideaki had heard him, and upon hearing this he burst into laughter.

"Stop? You're begging for mercy _now_ Kai?! What a weak little thing you are…" Hideaki scowled. Kai's breathing became all the more shallow. He knew these were withdrawal symptoms, and that's what made it worse. "It's a shame we never got to witness what you're like on a high Kai. I think you were too busy vomiting all evening to care, hmm?"

"God dammit, just kill me already!" Kai's voice was slowly growing louder, but it was evident to see that he was inches from a breakdown.

"Mr Hideaki, I've brought what you asked for," Boris said as he entered the room, carrying a box. The contents of the box were a mystery to Kai, and he was as sure as hell that he didn't want to know.

"That's brilliant, Boris, set it down on that worktop," Hideaki replied, and Boris complied. He then reaffixed his attention on Kai. "Now listen Kai, I'm going to let you go soon. But not before I give you a little more torment, is that alright?"

"What choice do I have?" Kai growled. "What else did you inject me with? I want to know!"

"Patience my son, patience. All will be revealed in due time, don't worry…" Hideaki sneered. Boris handed him a long steel needle, and Kai felt himself fall into panic. It was evident on his face. Hideaki laughed. "Are you afraid of this Kai? Would you like to know what card fate has just dealt you?"

"What…is that for?" Kai asked hesitantly, his voice growing weaker as he came to the end of his question. Hideaki smiled.

"Oh, we're just going to take something from you," he replied, putting a strap around Kai's arm, and judging exactly where to place the needle. They were aiming for his lower arm.

"What?" Kai asked, barely able to keep his voice from sounding worn and on the verge of disappearing altogether.

"Well, it's very experimental, I've never tried taking this particular thing in this fashion before," his father replied, finding the exact point he had been looking for. He pressed the needle tip gently against Kai's arm. "Now I suggest you hold incredibly still my boy, because this is really going to hurt."

"What are you taking from me?! What's going on?!" Kai asked, panic creeping into his voice, giving it some extra volume. Boris sneered as the needle penetrated Kai's skin. Kai bit down hard on his lip, then an intolerable tearing pain shot up his entire right arm. He gritted his teeth, and cried out quietly.

"Don't tense your muscles Kai, it will only make the extraction harder…" Hideaki warned him, a dark smile playing on his face. Kai felt like crying. He'd never felt so much pain all at once in his life. He felt tears forming in his eyes, but he willed them away. Under normal circumstances Kai would just will the pain away and it would all stop, but as it was, this was no ordinary circumstance. Something was being taken from Kai, and he had no idea what exactly, but it hurt like hell.

"Mama…" the words escaped Kai's lips by complete accident. He'd never cried out for his mother in his life. Not like this anyway. When he was a child, and he was being hurt, he had done several times, and she'd always come running to him. But she wasn't going to save him now. Hideaki glared at Kai, fury burning in his eyes.

"What did you say?!!" he asked angrily. "You didn't just call for that pathetic excuse for a mother now, did you?!!" Kai did the only thing he could: he said nothing. Hideaki hit him across the face. "I _never_ want to hear you call out for her ever again, do you understand me?!! She is dead and buried Kai! Forget her!! She won't rescue you this time!! No, mother won't be here to bail her little boy out of trouble!!" Kai sighed heavily, his breath was shaky. He was frightened. No, he was terrified. This was unlike him; he never had any fear. He was emotionless, and didn't care to feel anything, let alone fear. But fear was indeed overwhelming him, and he didn't know how much longer he could fight against it. This extraction seemed to be taking an eternity to end.

It took over an hour for the extraction to finish, and by then Kai was about ready to surrender to fear and just die.

"All over now Kai," Boris said, but his attempt at sympathy was a complete failure. Kai was blinded by pain, and his whole body was numb as a result.

"What did you take from me?" Kai asked shakily.

"Oh, just a sample of your bone marrow," Hideaki replied. "We'll no doubt use it for genetic research, or something that could result in more pain on your part. Take your pick." Kai let out a wry laugh.

'This is all so very funny to you isn't it?' Kai thought. Hideaki beckoned to Boris to take out yet another sharp and painful-looking instrument from the box. It looked like a pair of surgical scissors, which couldn't be good. Hideaki moved over to Kai's left side, and examined his scarred arm carefully.

"You know Kai…I could always use a tissue sample from you," Hideaki mused, shooting a dark grin in Kai's direction. He picked up the scissors, and dragged the blades across Kai's arm gently. "Just a couple of snips, a few stitches, a band aid, and you'll be fine in no time. Sounds fun, right?"

"Whatever you psychopathic bastard," Kai replied, not even meeting his father's glare. Hideaki sighed.

"Well, if you say so," he replied, placing the strap now on Kai's left arm and jamming one of the scissor blades through Kai's skin. Kai cried out in shock, as he wasn't prepared for that. Then Hideaki started to cut Kai's arm open, quite literally, using the surgical scissors. Kai forced back the remaining agonised screams that were now creeping into his throat in abundance, and tried his best to take his mind away from the pain. But no matter what he thought about, it all came back to it. He looked over at his arm, and noticed that he was now being stitched back up.

"Aw…over so soon?" Kai said sarcastically, his voice still sounding faded and worn. "And all this time I was expecting something a little more extravagant. Oh how disappointing."

"Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it," Hideaki smiled over at his son, but with a smile like that you just have to see it as pure evil. "Well, I've had my little moments of enjoyment with my son. Boris?"

"Yes, sir?" Boris stepped forward out of the little shadow he was skulking in.

"You have my permission to beat the living shit out of him," Hideaki said, taking Kai from the table and forcing him to his knees on the floor.

"You're too kind, sir," Boris smiled. Hideaki put his hands down heavily on Kai's shoulders, and Kai could only watch as he was repeatedly kicked in the stomach and in the chest. When Boris was done, Kai had counted five cracks, which made eight broken ribs, if the two from earlier were to be included.

"Are you done?" Kai asked rudely. Boris punched Kai in the face for his rude comment.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I feel I am," Boris replied, walking over to the box and removing yet another needle. "But first, you look so worn down, and there's blood all over you! Maybe this will help." Boris loaded another needle with yet more heroin. Kai tried to pull himself away, but his father would not relinquish his grip on his shoulders. Boris pulled Kai's right arm out this time and jammed the needle in roughly. Kai whimpered out again, although his body was so numb from pain he could barely even feel the needle go in.

"Double up the dosage Boris," Hideaki ordered. "Then we'll let him go. Let's see how his friends react to his high." Boris smiled, and once he'd finished with the first dosage he geared up for the second. The dosages Kai was getting were already way over what he should have, taking his height, weight and age into account. By all rights, he shouldn't even be having this drug at all, but this was his punishment for living too long.

'Should have committed suicide when I had the chance,' Kai thought, as the second needle jammed in, and he prepared to live out his nightmare.

~~***~~

The police officers stormed The Abbey in their droves. Tyson, Max, Kenny and Ray went with the head officer to try and find Boris. When they encountered one of the priests, they grabbed him for questioning.

"Where's Kai?" Ray growled, tightening his grip on the priest's neck.

"Kai…isn't here anymore," the frightened man replied. "He was given help by Boris, and then he was let go."

"Let go? What's Boris' game? Why would he just let Kai go like that?" Tyson asked, his hands behind his head. This had everyone baffled.

"Well, I know one thing: Kai didn't get no help from this sadistic dump," Dizzi commented.

"Are you suggesting he was set loose on purpose? Or that maybe he escaped somehow?" Kenny asked his Bit Beast.

"Escape? From here? You are kidding right Chief?" Dizzi replied. "I'd go with the former."

"Set loose? But why would they do that?" Ray asked, loosening his grip on the priest.

"I'd like to know that myself," Max said, looking out towards the gates. "If Kai has been set free, then he's out there somewhere, and he may need our help."

"'May' isn't the word I'd use Max," Dizzi said. "I'd use 'does'. I mean, look at this place!! It just wreaks of old slasher movie!!"

"OK, we'll go out and look for Kai," Tyson said, leading his friends away.

"Hey wait! What about me!?" the policeman asked.

"Look for Boris!" Tyson called back, running out of the gates, and almost falling flat on his face. "What the…?!!! What was that?" he knelt down and looked at what appeared to be, on first glance, a red Beyblade. But upon closer inspection, it was indeed blue, and it was stained in blood. Tyson examined the stained Bit. It was Dranzer. "Guys…" Tyson said, his voice sounded shaky. He held out Dranzer to them.

"Oh no…" Max cried, his voice almost caught in his throat. Ray was mad now. Too many scary things had happened to Kai recently, and he wanted to get to the bottom of them. Now.

__

Don't turn away

(Don't give in to the pain)

Don't try to hide

(Though they're screaming your name)

Don't close your eyes

(God knows what lies behind them)

Don't turn out the light

(Never sleep never die)

SN: Part five all done and finished! Woo! The above little thingy is the chorus to Whisper by Evanescence. I thought it suited the situation pretty well, and plus I'm running out of ideas ^^;. Remember, I don't own that track, and neither do I own Beyblade. Bah to it all. And this is for DragonBlade and Sakura Hiwatari: *bashes Boris to smoosh* BAD BORIS!! Ha ha! XD (I'm on a sugar high.)

Oh, by the way people, read Trapped At Kai's by Foxspirit. It's real funny. That is unless you already have read it, in which case well done you. *Remembers the war of the foods and dies laughing.* and because you're all so wonderful, you'll review! Go now! Fulfil your objective! Ick, Voltaire moment. Ick. XP


	6. Darkness Hides Everything

Six

__

Keep me at arm's length

I'm too dangerous for you now

Given half the chance

I know I'd kill you

But I don't mean any of this

It's as if my mind is no longer my own

Breaking free isn't an option

I'm in over my head

Kai was breathing heavily. He felt as if his feet weighed a ton, and they were just dragging. His mind felt so blurred, it was as if he wasn't in his own world anymore; he'd been taken somewhere else, somewhere strange.

And yet here he was, on the streets of Moscow, retracing his steps back to the hotel. It was still beyond Kai's comprehension as to the reason for his father and Boris just suddenly deciding to let him go. They seemed to be having such a good time making Kai suffer, he didn't quite understand why they stopped so suddenly. He knew there had to be an underlying reason, but his mind was wracked with the pain his body was feeling, so this thought was shoved to the back of his mind.

He found the hotel, and sighed with relief. For the first time, he actually wanted Tyson, Max, Ray and Kenny to be there when he got back. He'd rather put up with Tyson's endless barrage of questions than endure another night at The Abbey, and that really was saying something. He slumped into the lobby and made his way across to the lift, not noticing that the White Tigers were waiting for the Majestics in the lobby, and they'd seen him.

"Kai!" Mariah called out, but Kai ignored her. None of his senses seemed to be registering. The only thing he felt was pain, and that overwhelmed everything else. Lee, Mariah, Gary and Kevin all made their way over to Kai.

"Kai are you alright? Tyson and the others have been really worried about you. You've been missing all night! What's going on?" Lee asked. Kai stared at them, but the glare he gave them was a lot worse than his usual death stares. It chilled Lee's blood to see Kai look at him in that way. He looked so…out of it.

"Leave me alone," Kai replied, but he sounded so drained and weakened that the White Tigers couldn't comply.

"Listen Kai, they think you were kidnapped! Were you?" Mariah asked. Kai turned his gaze away from her and continued to walk to the lift.

"It's none of your business," Kai replied icily, and he disappeared behind the lift doors. Lee sighed.

"Well…that sounds like the Kai we all know and remember. At least being kidnapped didn't affect his attitude," he said, folding his arms loosely across his chest. The doors into the hotel opened, and in walked the Majestics, followed closely by the Bladebreakers. The Bladebreakers looked exhausted, as they'd been looking for Kai for hours.

"This is hopeless!" Tyson sighed. "He sure knows how to disappear!"

"Ah, don't sweat it Tyson," Oliver said encouragingly. "You'll find Kai. He's probably around somewhere."

"He just went upstairs, if you're still looking," Lee said. Everyone averted their attention to the White Tiger team, whose faces seemed to be filled with worry. "But be warned, he's not in the best of moods. He looks like he hasn't slept for a while, and he's probably endured a lot to come out with all the scars and bruises he had."

"Kai's hurt?!" Ray exclaimed. He started for the lift, followed by the rest of his team. "Thanks for the info Lee! Have fun in Europe!" and with that the Bladebreakers vanished into the lift and made their way up to their floor. The doors opened painfully slowly, and Ray almost threw himself out of the lift in his desperation. The team all darted down the hall and scrambled into their room. The door to Ray and Kai's room swung open, and when they looked inside, they saw Kai sitting at the window, just watching the world go by. The team erupted into happy laughter, which made Kai look over at them.

"Kai!! You're here!!" Max cried, flinging his arms around the older teen, much to his great surprise. "We were so scared you were dead or something after we found Dranzer on the street covered in blood!"

"Dranzer?" Kai said slowly, suddenly realising that his Beyblade was indeed no longer with him. Tyson held it out to him, and dropped it into his open hand.

"You look real beat Kai," Tyson noted. "Do you want us to get you a doctor or something?"

"No," Kai replied. "I'll be OK." Ray frowned doubtfully. He had a feeling Kai wasn't alright. There was an anguished look in Kai's normally impassive garnet eyes, and that told Ray that all wasn't well here. Knowing that they couldn't force Kai to see a doctor, Tyson, Max and Kenny smiled simply, patted Kai on the shoulder and left. They didn't know that the shoulder they touched was in seething pain, but how could they if Kai refused to tell them.

"Kai, you're a bad liar," Ray said once everyone had left. Kai glared over at him coldly.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, sounding a little angry.

"You're in pain, and a lot of it. I can see it in your eyes. What in the world are you so afraid of? Going to a doctor will help you!"

"Oh, like you know what will help me."

"Kai, I didn't ask for your sarcasm. I'm just concerned. I'm your friend Kai. We're all your friends, and how many times do I have to reiterate the point that friends can talk to each other!"

"What can I seriously talk to you circus freaks about?"

"What you're feeling. That would be a good start. And maybe you could ditch that attitude of yours as well, that wouldn't hurt."

"Don't tell me how to live Ray. I get enough of that from my father."

"So…that's Biovolt's new head man is it? Your father took over after his father got thrown in the big house, is that it? Is he hurting you?"

"It's none of your business Ray! Now, just stay the hell out of my life before I start to really get pissed off."

"You can threaten me all you like Kai, but that's all they are: empty threats with no backing or meaning to them. I doubt you'd hurt me Kai, because you know I'm here to help you." Ray's eyes widened as Kai started to laugh. But this wasn't the kind of laugh you hear when someone finds something funny: this laugh was sick, twisted and demented. What had Boris done to Kai to make him like this? Kai got up from his seat at the window and stood in front of Ray. He smiled darkly and threw a punch into Ray's stomach.

"Wouldn't hit you, hm?" Kai sneered. "You don't know me at all, do you Ray? You just think you do. Well dream on buster, you'll never know anything about who I am."

"I _do_ know you Kai," Ray gasped, the wind knocked out of him. "You're a Bladebreaker. You're our friend." Upon hearing this, Kai punched Ray again. Ray fell to the floor.

"If I was your friend, Ray, I doubt I'd try to hurt you," Kai replied, kicking Ray viciously while he was down. Blood started to seep out of the corners of Ray's mouth. He lifted his head to meet Kai's gaze. Kai's pupils were constricted, and it made him look all the more frightening. His breathing seemed shallow, and he looked sweaty. Ray suddenly realised what was going on.

"That bastard!" Ray cursed out loud. "Boris pumped you with heroin didn't he?! You're high!!" Kai kicked Ray in the face, causing Ray's nose to start bleeding. Kai felt a wave of nausea sweep over him. He felt tired and very ill. He walked into the bathroom quickly, and proceeded in throwing up quite violently down the toilet. This gave Ray time to get to his feet again. Kai emerged from the bathroom, looking pale, sweaty and sick. His gaze fell on Ray.

"Get out of my life Ray," Kai said, weakness breaking through in his voice again. Blood was still trailing down Ray's face, but he was switched off to it. His focus was on Kai. He kept his amber eyes fixed on Kai's distressed garnet ones. Kai didn't like this at all, and walked over to Ray, holding him against the wall by his throat. "Leave me alone!! Get the hell out of my life!!" Kai screamed. He was hysterical, and Ray knew why. He was surprised the others hadn't heard this, but knowing it they'd drifted off to sleep, and it took a small miracle to wake them up when they were really tired.

"Kai…" Ray managed to say as he struggled for air. He was barely able to breathe, as Kai's grip on his was quite tight. Kai was in a hysterical fit. He didn't know what to do. It was like Kai was lost in his own mind; his thoughts and feelings being drowned out by the drugs that still coursed through him. He'd lost it. He'd lost control over his mind, and he was being dictated by a drug. This wasn't the normal Kai. Kai would never let anyone control him. And yet he allowed this drug to possess him and do with him what it wished. Kai felt so low, so pathetic: so weak. He heard a noise in the next room and quickly let go of Ray. His eyes were wide with fear, and he made a run for the door, once again leaving Ray alone.

Tyson, Max and Kenny had been woken up by the noise, and they walked into Ray and Kai's room to see what all the fuss was about.

"Ray! What's all the --" but Tyson was cut short in his question when he saw what a terrible state Ray was in. They rushed to his side and helped him onto one of the beds. "Ray!! What happened?! Where's Kai?!"

"He's…lost it guys…" Ray said finally. "He's lost control of his mind…he could end up hurting himself, or someone else if we don't find him."

"He ran out again?" Max said in dismay.

"He's under the influence of drugs again. Boris has been flooding him with it…I think…I think we came too late to save him…"

"But Ray! It _can't_ be over yet! We have to go out and find him! Like you said!"

"That's easier said than done Max. He's illusive, and he can't be found when he doesn't want to be found."

"But you yourself said he was going to get hurt! We can't just leave him out there to kill himself!" Ray looked at the floor, and climbed to his feet, wiping the blood from around his mouth.

"Kenny, call up an ambulance. We'll need to get Kai to a hospital as soon as we find him," Ray ordered. Kenny nodded and went for the telephone in the next room. "Tyson, Max, you two come with me. We have to find Kai and we have to find him quickly. He's in a bad state, so we'd better be careful." Tyson and Max agreed, grabbing their Beyblades and following Ray out of the room and down the hall.

~~***~~

"This is pathetic!" Bryan growled, pacing up and down the hotel room in which the Demolition Boys were now staying. "Biovolt just turned him loose?! Why would they do that?!"

"Because he's a threat to himself and to anyone near him," Tala replied coldly, rising from his seat.

"We've waited here long enough Tala!" Spencer said, getting to his feet also. "It's time we stepped in!"

"I agree Spencer, but I don't think it's a good idea that we move in to intercept Kai. We may get better luck raiding The Abbey," Tala replied, walking over to the window. "If we raid The Abbey we may get a better insight as to what Hideaki's intent really is. Going after Kai right now is a worthless pursuit. He wouldn't accept what we'd have to say, not in the state he's in. We'll wait for him to recover more fully, then we'll confront him and the rest of his team."

"Are you sure it's wise to wait this long Tala? We've already wasted a lot of valuable time," Ian asked. "Kai could have been long gone from Russia by now if we'd gone in when I first suggested."

"Ian, we can't interfere just yet," Tala replied, looking over at his shorter team mate. "I want to know more about Biovolt's intent with Kai, to see how severe this situation really is. I know it's all pretty bad right now, but it could get worse, and when it does, that's when we make our move."

~~***~~

"Hey Kai!!" Tyson called out, getting puzzled looks from Russian civilians. "Kai! Where are you?!"

"Kai! Oh Kai!!" Max called, looking around everywhere. No sign of Kai.

"Kai!! Kai come on out!!" Ray yelled, looking down every alleyway and in every shop he passed. Still nothing. The three reconvened in the park.

"I've got nothing," Tyson sighed, sitting himself down on an empty bench. "We've looked all over Moscow! Kai's nowhere!"

"We didn't look over there," Max pointed over to where they saw a two-tone haired teenager with agonised garnet eyes. It was Kai.

"Kai!" Ray called with relief as they ran over to their captain. He was sitting in the grass by the river, and he wasn't paying them much attention. "Kai! We were worried sick about you! Where have you been?!" Kai's attention suddenly snapped on them, but he looked angry and afraid to see them. He got to his feet and started to back away.

"Kai…" Tyson began, holding his hand out to the older teen, but he continued to move backwards, away from them.

"Stay away from me," Kai muttered, but it was barely audible. "Please, just stay away." Despite his voice being so quiet, Tyson could tell that there was fear in his words. But he didn't understand why Kai would fear them.

"Kai, it's me, Tyson," he said softly. "We're here to help you, buddy. We won't hurt you I promise."

"You'll take me back to them…" Kai said, his voice growing louder, and he was still moving backwards. "I won't let you take me back to Biovolt!! I won't go back to that!!"

"Kai it's us! Your team mates!" Max called to him, extending his hand out also. Kai picked up his speed slightly, the fear showing more evidently in his face. This wasn't Kai. He had never been like this before.

"Kai…" Ray said, trying to move closer.

"No!! You stay away from me!! I know who you are!! You work for Biovolt and you're going to take me back to Boris and my father!!! I won't let you!!" Kai screamed, turning and breaking into a run. But he didn't get very far. The energy was completely drained from him, and before he knew it, he was down on the floor, completely unconscious. Max, Tyson and Ray ran to his side, to make sure he was OK.

"He's out cold," Tyson said after examining his face. They could hear sirens in the background, growing louder. Soon small red lights were flashing all around them. Kenny had managed to find them and get the ambulance to them just in time. Tyson looked down at Kai. "Hold out just a little longer buddy. This will all be over real soon."

__

I see the faces

Of masked strangers

Yet I get the feeling

I know these people

I've seen you before

But was it a dream?

Who are you? Are you real?

Speak to me

SN: That's part six! Yay! My sugar high is dying down now, so I may just get back to sane writing. If that is ever going to be possible! ^_^

Please oh please review!!! I'm putting a lot of effort into this and it'll make it all the more worth it if you leave a review. Please and thank you.

And TigerTerror you gave me the most awesome idea for a future chapter in your last review!! Thank you!! And treachery89, what was your last review about? Was it something I said? *puts on sad face* I'm lost.

This chapter is for Lissom-howler: cos she makes me smile.


	7. Broken Glass

Seven

__

This strange feeling

I've felt it somewhere before

Yes, I remember it now

Security, safety

Feelings that were once so foreign to me

Now come flooding back

I never want this to end

I want to be like this forever

"He's got a fair amount of internal bleeding, about eight broken ribs, a lot of bruising, and his system is flooded with heroin. We've sorted out the broken ribs and the internal bleeding, the bruising will be around for a while, and we just have to get rid of the heroin in his system. And judging by the fact that you kids suggest he was hallucinating, he may have been given a hallucinogenic drug without his knowledge, like ecstasy. We'll have to run a more thorough analysis of the blood sample we took when he arrived to come to a more solid conclusion, but your friend in incredibly lucky to be alive. The torture he's gone through would have killed any normal teenager his age long ago." Through his unconsciousness, Kai was beginning to hear voices all around him. One belonged to an adult, most likely a doctor, judging by what he was saying. The other voices he could hear mumbling had to be his team mates.

"Will Kai be alright?" Tyson asked. The doctor frowned.

"I'm not all that sure to be perfectly honest kids. I just want to know how such a large amount of such a pure form of heroin got into the system of a teenager like him," the doctor replied doubtfully.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Max said, forcing himself to smile. Kai willed his eyes to open, and after much struggling they did.

"Hey! Look who's awake!" Tyson said, turning to Kai and smiling. "How are you feeling Kai? Any better?" Kai looked around. He was in a hospital. Oh great. He tried to sit up but found it incredibly painful to do so. Ray went over to him and pushed him back down gently.

"You've been through a lot Kai. You just stay there," Ray smiled at the agitated older teen. Kai knew he was going to go crazy in here. The thought of him being continuously sympathised with and fussed over made him sick to his stomach, almost quite literally. He hated the idea of being paid so much attention, whereas under normal circumstances he'd rather just fade out into the background and not be noticed. He didn't want people to care about him. He preferred to be left alone, to his own thoughts. He looked down at the IV tube protruding from his left arm, just above a large bandage that was obviously covering the area where he was cut into. He had another tube sticking out of his right arm, and he had no idea as to what it was doing.

"What's…" Kai began, but felt himself start to falter. Wonderful. Another excellent reason for people to feel sorry for him. He was just dropping himself into these pathetic situations nowadays.

"You're a very lucky young man Mr Hiwatari," the doctor said, smiling. "Of course, you're in a very bad way, but your friends brought you here just in time. A minute longer and you probably would have slipped into a coma." Kai looked over to the open window. He didn't want to think about it. "The IV in your right arm is helping to repair the damage made by a crude job of extracting your bone marrow. The one in your left arm is there to try and flush some of the substances out of your blood. One of my team is running a more detailed test on the blood sample we took from you while you were unconscious. We have a feeling there's more than one substance running through your blood stream, we just need to find out what." the doctor then looked down at his clip board. "Oh, and it was also taken into account that you were operated on."

"I WAS WHAT?!!!" Kai yelled, sitting up quickly. Ray tried to push Kai back down, but Kai refused to move.

"Whoever operated on you is no doctor. You weren't under an anaesthetic of sorts, just under a mixer of Valium and a general anaesthetic, which is pretty stupid considering that Valium is a tranquilliser." Kai frowned. Of course he wouldn't be anaesthetised strongly enough. They were _trying_ to make his life a nightmare. It wasn't an accident.

"What did they do?" Kai asked, calming down a little, but refusing to lie back down, no matter how hard Ray pushed.

"They just took tissue samples from your internal organs, like your heart. Their stitching technique is terrible, hence why you suffered so much internal bleeding, but we rectified that in surgery, along with your broken ribs."

'Oh that's just great,' Kai thought. 'I get blood taken from me while I'm asleep, then I get operated on while I'm asleep, then _they_ go and operate on me!! Am I the only one who _doesn't_ know what's going on while I'm sleeping?!!' Kai slouched back into the bed, refusing to make eye contact. The doctor just smiled and walked away, leaving Kai to face the evident oncoming bombardment of questions.

"So…" Max began, attempting to break the awkward silence. "It looks like you're gonna be OK Kai! Hey, isn't that great?!"

"Hn," Kai replied, totally uninterested. Max sighed. He'd get more conversation out of a brick wall than he would out of Kai.

"What happened to you in there Kai?" Tyson finally asked the question that had been burning on everyone's lips during the past five minute silence.

"It's none of your business," Kai replied coldly.

"None of our business!" Tyson scoffed. "None of our business! Kai, not everyone in the world is like you! There are people in this world who make an effort to _care_ for others! We're worried!"

"Yeah Kai, you can't keep it a secret forever," Kenny said, putting Dizzi at the foot of the bed. Kai turned away from them, denying them any sort of explanation. Tyson grinned, a wily sort of grin. He walked over to the side table and picked up a photo that had been there since Kai had been in surgery.

"Who's she Kai? She's real pretty whoever she is," Tyson said, looking at the photo. He had caught Kai's attention, but not his undivided attention. Tyson continued. "That's you as a kid in the photo with her isn't it? She must be your mom then." suddenly Kai snapped to life and reached forward, grabbing the photograph from Tyson's hands.

"Where did you get this?!" Kai snapped.

"They took it out of your pocket before they took you into surgery," Tyson replied. "So she's your mother right? She's really pretty. She looks like she's a nice lady."

"_Was_ a nice lady," Kai corrected his friend.

"Was? As in past tense?" Kenny asked, slightly alarmed.

"Where is she Kai?" Max asked. Kai just stared down at the photograph and said nothing. He didn't want to. Tyson looked angry.

"Listen Kai, I'm sick and tired of you hiding things from us! You know just as well as any of us that there's no 'I' in 'team'! You learnt that the hard way, remember? Are you gonna throw all of that away just because your dad shook you up a bit? Come off it Kai! You're the strongest one out of all of us! If anyone can fight through this it's you! But we're scared Kai; scared that you'll up and leave and not tell us why. So just lighten up and trust us!" Tyson said, anger weaved into every word. They were all quite taken aback as to how harsh Tyson was being, but they knew he had a point. Kai felt the unusual sting of tears in his eyes. Just looking at this picture hurt him. He couldn't explain it to them because he didn't know how, not just because he didn't want to.

"You don't get it Tyson," Kai mumbled, allowing a tear to escape and run down his cold pale face. Tyson noticed this and took a seat beside Kai.

"Then make me understand," Tyson said soothingly. Kai could barely believe what he was hearing. No one had ever made such an effort for him before. But these teenagers, these friends of his were trying everything they could to reach him, and he was still pushing the away. He felt his defences start to break, and he knew that if he told them, he'd be crying by the end of it.

'Just get it out of your system, Kai,' he told himself. 'You can trust these guys, they're your friends. Besides, no one is perfect. Even tough guys have to cry sometimes. It's either that or live life being endlessly tortured by your father and Boris, and that's no life. I'd rather just cry.' He knew that if he had to choose between breaking down or being his father's lab rat, he'd choose breaking down, no contest. He slowly brought his knees up and wrapped his arms loosely around them, the photograph still in his fingers. He rested his forehead on his knees and felt more tears trail down his cheeks. After all this time, and after all the defence measures he'd put up to keep people out, he was breaking. The tears began flowing more freely, and before Kai knew what was happening, he was crying. Tyson put a comforting arm around him. Kai's defences were broken like shattered glass, and now they could see who he really was beneath the tough exterior he'd had in place for so long.

"It's OK buddy. Jeez, it sounds really bad," Tyson said, looking over to his comrades, who seemed startled to see Kai so upset.

"I was four," Kai said, in between trying to calm himself down. He'd made a spectacle of himself by allowing himself to cry, and no doubt he'd never hear the end of it. His weaknesses were open and exposed; there was no wall there to keep them in place. All the defences that Kai's father had helped him build were now nothing. They amounted for nothing. Was it that he hated emotions of sadness and fear? Or was it that he was scared them?

"Four?" Tyson said questioningly.

"Yeah, I was four years old when it all started," Kai began, lifting his head and drying his eyes. Though he was embarrassed that he'd displayed such a powerful emotion so publicly, he was glad to have finally got it all out of his system. "My mother and my father started to have uncontrollable fights. At first it was only every so often, but it soon turned into three times a night. I was caught in the middle, as they always seemed to fight over me. My father hated me right from the start. He was jealous of all the attention I received from my mother. He used to hit me, and her, repeatedly when he'd had too much to drink after work, and even when he hadn't. He attacked me with knifes several times when I was five, but I just thought it was something all fathers did. I had no idea, until one night, that what he was doing just wasn't right. I was in the wrong place with my Beyblade at the wrong time. He went mental on me and started to tear me to shreds with this large knife. The louder I screamed, the more he cut me. My mother screamed at him to stop, and after a while he did. She took me to hospital, where I had to get a transfusion. My mother had to tell the doctors that I'd been playing with things I shouldn't have been in the kitchen. If she told them the truth, my father would have had us both killed. Well, after I was released from hospital, a huge fight between my parents ensued. And it was my mother's last." they all looked at Kai in horror.

"Why?" Max asked, dreading to hear the answer.

"He killed her," Kai replied simply, the words stinging the back of his throat. He didn't want to cry again; once was enough.

"Why??!!" Tyson asked, completely outraged.

"Because she stood up for me, and for herself. Because she defied him," Kai replied, looking at the IV tubing in his arms. "He grabbed a hammer out of a drawer and hit her with it. I kept trying to stop him, but I kept getting hit back. I stood and watched my mother die, and all the time she was, she just kept telling me to run away. Although she was about to die, she was still looking out for me…I mattered more to her than her own life…" Kai buried his face in his knees again, afraid he was going to start crying. He never cried. Ever. This just wasn't like him at all. What was it about these Bladebreakers that made him want to be a better person? It was annoying whatever it was; and yet at the same time very touching to have someone care about him for once. "He shipped me off to The Abbey after that. I was only five, and that's when the drug-taking started."

"Well your dad sounds like a bastard," Tyson said, getting to his feet. "I'll smash _his_ face with a hammer and see how _he_ likes it!" Kai lifted his head and looked at Tyson, half smiling.

"Thanks Tyson," Kai said finally. Tyson grinned.

"No sweat dude, friends that share pain together stay together," he replied. Kai raised one eyebrow at Tyson's sentimental-sounding statement.

"Come on guys, let's let Kai rest. He's probably sick of us anyway!" Ray laughed. Tyson nodded.

"See ya tomorrow Kai," Tyson smiled. Kai nodded as he watched them leave. A part of him willed them to stay.

'Stay? Am I mad?! They drive me crazy!!' Kai laughed to himself, and settled down to try and get some sleep; something he had been deprived of over the last few days.

~~***~~

"Hey Tala, check this out," Bryan called over to his team captain in a hoarse whisper, so as not to attract unwanted attention. They had raided The Abbey, as Tala had planned, and were now looking for reasons as to why Hideaki wanted Kai so badly. Tala approached his comrade and looked at the screen.

"What have you got?" Tala asked.

"Genetic data on Kai," Bryan replied, moving through continuous streams of data regarding Kai's battle technique, his DNA make up, and the functions of his internal organs. "What does Hideaki want with all this data?"

"Has it ever actually registered with anyone that Hideaki and Kai are related? They're father and son!" Tala said, keeping his voice low.

"But what would a father want all this genetic information on his own son for?" Ian asked. "Are they planning to clone him or something?"

"I don't know," Tala replied. "But I get the feeling that Hideaki is just trying to carry out his own father's orders, but in a more satanical fashion." Realisation suddenly dawned on Tala. "They're trying to make a weapon!"

"You're kidding!" Spencer exclaimed.

"Why else would they want all of Kai's genetic information? They're going to try and fashion him into the ideal merciless Beyblader, and the worst part is Kai doesn't have the guts to stand up to his father, so Hideaki holds sway over him! With this grip over Kai, Hideaki could use his own son to do his dirty work for him, much as his own father tried to do," Tala said.

"Yeah, but why all the internal organs information? What could Biovolt use that for?" Bryan asked.

"Optimising Kai's performance. Remember, Boris and Voltaire did a similar thing with us. It's as if we weren't born, we were created. They're trying to pull off the same trick with Kai!" Tala replied, keeping his voice hoarse.

"So this is bad?" Ian asked. Tala nodded. "Well then, we can intercept now! Yeah?"

"Yes…we should move in quickly, and just pray to God that Hideaki hasn't beaten us to the gun," Tala replied, calling his team to him and exiting the building. They had to move quickly if they wanted to get ahead of Biovolt. Biovolt had regained all of their former power under Voltaire's son, and even then Hideaki's reign was a lot more terrifying than he who came before him. This could only spell bad things for the Bladebreakers, as well as for every other Blader in the world who possessed a Bit Beast!

__

I can see through you

You weren't much different from me

When you were my age

The dark shadows you hide behind

Won't protect you forever

And eventually

When your shadows fall

I'll be there to laugh at you

SN: I am tearing through this fic! Woo hoo! I just thought up another meaning for the word BBA: Boris Bashers Anonymous. XD. For people like DragonBlade, Sakura Hiwatari and even myself. EVIL BORIS!! BAD DADDY!! *bish bash*. I got so MAD with this chapter!!! It's unreal how mad I got!! Ugh!! Kai and emotion don't mix, so I had to add all sorts of stuff to make myself feel better about it. And ya, it didn't work.

Please do review! Yes, that little drop down button thing in the left hand corner. Click it. Go on click it. I know you want to…


	8. Back To Genesis

Eight

__

Every time you point your finger

Three more point right back at you

I'm not saying that it's something wrong with life

Cause that's a sad excuse

An age old game of rat and mouse

Chasing us from house to house

I'm not saying that it's something wrong with you

It's wrong with me as well

Ray had slept a lot better knowing that Kai was safe. In a hospital, Kai couldn't be harmed by his father or Boris. Ray just wished he had a better idea of what Kai had endured while he was there. All he knew was what the doctor had said, and Ray had the feeling there was more to it than just bogus surgery and mind warping drugs.

He had moved himself onto the floor of Tyson, Max and Kenny's room, as having to sleep another night alone in the dark was going to drive him crazy. They'd stayed up until about three in the morning talking about Kai and Boris and Kai's father. They were all curious to know more, but they had decided not to put Kai through any more trauma than what he'd already been through by hounding him with questions on an apparently sensitive subject.

"Is anyone else awake?" Ray asked in a hushed whisper.

"I am," came the reply. It was Max. Max turned and sat up, shifting to the bottom of his bed so that he could meet Ray's gaze. "It's only six thirty."

"I know. When does the hospital open up?" Ray asked.

"Not for another half an hour. You're eager to see Kai too huh?" Max asked in return, smiling slightly.

"I just want some answers," Ray replied, his hands behind his head, looking up at the empty ceiling. "There's more to it than just playing doctor, that much I'm sure of."

"Well, we may as well go down and eat then, seeing as we're not sleeping anymore," Max concluded, getting to his feet and making for the bathroom. He jumped as he heard a loud bang. Ray jumped too. It was Tyson. Upon hearing the word 'food' he'd suddenly leapt to life.

"Time to eat!" Tyson cried out with joy. Max and Ray sighed. It was going to be a long and tiresome morning.

~~***~~

"Anything else on those punks that raided the lab yesterday?" Hideaki asked, still pretty angry that there was a break-in at all.

"Nothing as of yet sir," Boris replied. Hideaki slammed his fists down on the desk furiously.

"Boris!! I need to know who those little rats were who snuck into my laboratory and duplicated my information!! This isn't good enough!!"

"I apologise sir, but we've been puzzling over it all night. The thieves covered their tracks very well."

"Well, you're running out of time Boris. I want to see results before the sun sets this afternoon or you'll begin to feel the pain I inflicted upon my son! Get out of my sight!!"

"But sir! About your son! Should we raid the hospital and retrieve him?"

"You idiots would ruin the operation. Last time I let you fools kidnap Kai, I almost wound up in the big house!! You left too much evidence around for them to pick up on us, and I had to get rid of a police squad most of yesterday afternoon!!!"

"My sincerest apologies sir."

"You could apologise until you were green in the face, I still wouldn't trust you to handle my Kai. I'll take care of reclaiming Kai myself. That way there will be no mistakes."

"You're brilliant sir. Absolutely brilliant."

"Stop kissing my ass Boris and get out of my sight!!! NOW!!" Hideaki boomed, and with that Boris retreated sheepishly. Hideaki rose from his desk and went to the window. "That moron couldn't capture a small dried leaf without leaving too much evidence around! Those Bladebreakers are getting to be a real pain. How can I throw them off?" Hideaki turned to face the door, a maniacal smile developing on his face. "Maybe I won't need to…maybe Kai will throw them off for me…"

~~***~~

The Bladebreakers were stood outside the doors to the hospital. It was open, but they were hesitant to go in, as they didn't know what kind of mood Kai would be in. The hospital had been open since seven o'clock, and it was now coming up for noon. Tyson had really gone all-out for breakfast that morning, and he was already starting to whine that he wanted lunch.

"Tyson, shut up! We just had breakfast!" Ray snapped back at his whining companion.

"Yeah, I know that, but I'm still hungry guys!" Tyson groaned, his hands over his stomach.

"We're here to see Kai, Tyson, not to feed you," Kenny said, tucking his laptop under his arm. Kai was in the same hospital Ray had been put into after his battle with Bryan at the World Tournament. It didn't look very inviting, and to Tyson it looked more like a haunted house.

"After you Ray," Tyson said nervously. Ray gulped and lead the way in. They slunk up to the reception desk and waited for someone. A doctor finally came over to them.

"Can I help you boys?" the doctor asked. The doctor was a woman, and she seemed very friendly. Ray relaxed a little.

"We're looking for Kai Hiwatari. Do you know where he is?" Ray asked.

"Oh yes! He was moved into the Recovery ward last night. I checked up on him this morning, and it looks like his system is clean from all substances," she replied, a smile on her face.

"Can we see him?" Tyson asked. She nodded and lead them away.

"About that hallucinogenic drug the doctor was talking about yesterday," Ray began. "Was it ecstasy?"

"Let me see," the doctor mused, flicking through the notes on her clipboard. She had obviously been assigned as Kai's new doctor. "Oh here we are! Blood testing for banned substances…" she read through the notes carefully, flicking from her current page to the next every so often. "I'm still baffled as to how a young teenager like Kai was able to get his hands on so much heroin. Is he an addict? We have a counsellor here if he needs help."

"No, Kai's fine," Ray assured her. "As far as we know, it was put into his system by someone else."

"By someone else?" the doctor said in surprise. "Who in their right mind would flood a young man's blood stream with that?!"

"We don't know," Kenny replied. "That's what we're here to find out."

"Here it is!" she cried with delight. "Listed substances found in Kai's blood!" she ran through the list in her head, humming every so often to herself. "Yes, looks like ecstasy is on here. I suppose that does explain the hallucinations. Heroin doesn't usually bring on hallucinations. Trust me, I've dealt with quite a few drug cases in my time." she stopped them at the entrance to a small room. She opened the door slightly, looked inside, then looked back at the others. "Well, he's asleep right now, so I doubt you'll get many answers out of him."

"What I wanna know is why Kai would take ecstasy," Tyson said, his arms folded. "I know for a fact that ecstasy is in tablet form, I learnt about it in school last year. He _had_ to have taken it of his own will!"

"It is most commonly slipped into food or drinks, if people wanted someone to ingest it without their knowledge," the doctor said. It all clicked for Tyson. No wonder Kai didn't like eating too often, if his father and Boris kept putting poison and drugs in his food. Ray walked into the room anyway, and the rest of the team followed. The doctor left them be and continued on the rest of her rounds.

"I hope we don't wake him up," Max said, looking around at the sterile surroundings in which Kai was now resident.

"Well, it's a bit late for that. I heard you all at the door," a familiar voice said. They turned to the bed to see Kai sitting up, his arms folded. He _didn't_ look too happy. The IV tube in his left arm was gone, and a bandage was around his arm over the place where it had been. The IV tube in his right arm remained. He looked a lot better than he did the previous day, and for that they were relieved. Tyson forced a smile onto his face.

"Well, we were just here to ask you a few questions, you know, about the deeper side of Biovolt and all that…" Tyson said, trailing off as Kai's death stare started to break into him.

"Kai, there's more to this than what the doctor said, we know that," Ray said, ignoring the fact that Kai was now glaring daggers at him. "We just want to know what exactly are they up to? And how are you involved?"

"The new leader of the Biovolt Corporation is my father. I was raised in that Abbey to be a tool for Biovolt, so it's obvious that _my_ father is going to want to continue _his_ father's work. Is that enough for you Ray?" Kai replied, his icy gaze still fixed on Ray.

"Kai…we knew that. We want to know more about it, like what he's hoping to accomplish by torturing you."

"Isn't it obvious? By torturing me he'll get his kicks and he'll be happy and the world will be doomed."

"Tone down the sarcasm Kai. What's the point of pumping you full of drugs though?"

"Like I know!" Kai snapped. Max looked at Kai's arms, and noticed how inflamed his veins appeared to be.

"Kai, what's up there?" Max asked, pointing to his arm. Kai looked down at it and sighed.

"A side effect," Kai replied, looking up at Max. "It happened a lot when I was younger and I was taking the drugs. I'm actually beginning to feel the withdrawals setting it…shit." Kai put a hand to his forehead, then rested back into the pillows, sighing heavily. "To tell you the truth…I haven't been sleeping at all. My breathing is just so shallow that when I close my eyes and one of those idiot doctors come in, they're convinced I'm asleep."

"Why haven't you been sleeping?" Max asked innocently.

"Because of the withdrawals!!" Kai replied angrily. Max took a step back, looking a little upset. Kai sighed, rubbing his temple. "Sorry Max…you didn't deserve that…it's just that I've not been sleeping, I haven't been eating, I've felt sick, I've been jumpy, and I've been feeling awake one minute then tired the next. I'm just…not feeling myself right now. So don't take it personally."

"No problems buddy," Max brightened up a bit.

"I just want out of here so I can have a chance at getting my father and Boris for this," Kai said, looking blankly over to the window.

"Well, you're gonna be stuck here for another week at least Kai," Kenny said as Kai looked over at him. "They still want to run a few tests on you to make sure you'll be OK without the drugs in your system. Or at least that's the general protocol in these situations. Dizzi and I checked it out the internet last night. We had nothing much else to do."

"What about training? That's something," Kai said, folding his arms.

"Kai! We're not even a team anymore, and you're still dogging us to train?!" Tyson moaned.

"He has a point Tyson," Max agreed with Kai. "We may have to go into battle against some of the Biovolt cronies, so it's probably best if we're prepared." Tyson groaned loudly.

"Does _everyone_ have to _insist_ on constant training?!!" he whined. "I just wanna bask in the glory of being the world number one! Can't I even do that?!"

"You're done basking Tyson," Kai stated. "You've got to get back down to it unless you want to have some punk beat you three months down the line."

"OK, OK! If it'll make you happy Kai, we'll train today!" Tyson gave in.

"I'd rather train with you guys than stay here, and that's really saying something," Kai said grumpily. He wasn't happy at all about being in hospital. He never had been. Even as a child he'd hated it.

"You can't just bust out of here Kai! You need to recover!" Ray said, almost laughing as he did so.

"I'm recovered enough," Kai replied. "I just want to make sure you're not slacking."

"Oh, you just love to see us suffer don't you Kai?" Tyson said sarcastically.

"It's what I live for," came Kai's equally sarcastic reply. Tyson frowned disapprovingly.

"Well, you're stuck here for another week Kai, so you'll just have to like it or lump it!" Tyson said, almost gleefully.

"Don't try breaking out or anything stupid like that Kai, you need the rest," Ray said, a gentle smile on his face.

"Hn," Kai replied, not taking much notice of them. Ray sighed and they decided to leave to get their training started.

"We'll see you around Kai," Kenny said as the team left the room quietly. Kai was in a bad mood, and he wanted to get out of this hospital as quickly as possible. Breaking out seemed like an incredibly tempting idea.

The sound of heavy metal footsteps approaching him suddenly reached Kai's ears. He knew those footsteps all too well. A wave of panic washed over Kai. He had to get out before he got caught. He tore the IV tube out of his arm, though perhaps maybe too roughly, as there was blood everywhere after he did so and it hurt like hell, and he ran to get his shoes on. The blood was running down his arm and onto the sterile white floor, forming a large puddle. He got his shoes on, but the footsteps were growing louder and louder. As he got to his feet, the footsteps stopped in the doorway. Kai looked over to the figure blocking his way, his voice froze over, his heart leapt up into his throat. He wanted to scream out for help, but he didn't want to show he was weak and desperate. He backed away towards the window, and kept himself against the wall, showing no signs of fear on his face.

"Time to come home Kai."

~~***~~

"Let it rip!" Tyson yelled out as he pulled the rip chord out of his launcher and sent Dragoon flying into the dish. Ray did the same. They were having a friendly training battle. Tyson wanted to be ready if he had to battle Biovolt. Dragoon and Driger clashed several times, but both seemed pretty evenly matched.

"Come on Driger!" Ray called out to his Bit Beast.

"Don't let him win Dragoon!" Tyson called out to his Bit Beast in return. The two blades smashed against each other continuously with great force. Kenny was recording their battle stats with Dizzi's help, to see how much the World Championships had really helped them. Max watched on in awe. He enjoyed watching a good old fashioned Bey Battle. It was one that didn't involve evil Bit Beasts. Or evil Bladers for that matter.

"Tyson! Tyson!" a familiar voice was calling out to them. It was Kai's doctor from the hospital. Tyson stopped Dragoon and Ray stopped Driger, and they waited for the doctor to catch them. She seemed out of breath, and worried. "Tyson, is Kai with you?" she asked, breathing heavily.

"No. we left him at the hospital with you," Tyson replied, beginning to become confused.

"Well…I went into him just after you left…and all I found was the removed IV tube and a lot of blood. Kai's gone!!"

__

I escape

Then we rewind

And I find myself back where I started

I can't run away

No matter what I try

We always rewind

Back to my genesis

Back to my genesis of nightmares

Back into hell

SN: *waves flag* Eight parts!! And things are getting a lot weirder if you ask me. I will be the luckiest person alive if this fic makes it up to 100 reviews by its end. Make a wish come true: please place a review today! (God, it sounds like I'm advertising for Christmas hampers…bleh!) Oh and by the way, that opening passage is from Amigone by The Goo Goo Dolls. And like Beyblade, I do not own it. Bah.

READERS!!! This authoress needs YOU!!

Yes, YOU! I need your help in letting me know how you feel this story should end! Should it end on a happy note? Or should it end on a sad note? I already have both parts written, so its up to you which one I submit. Cast your votes, and the winning choice will be my ending! Get reviewing!!


	9. Stolen Identity

Nine

__

Sit down

Lose yourself in thought

Then you might find out

It's all we've got

Take a chance

The future's in your hands

Make it what you can

Before your time has reached the end

A familiar scent flooded Kai's senses. His head felt heavy and he was cold. His eyes opened and he examined his surroundings quickly. He was back in that cell. Back in The Abbey. How had it happened? He couldn't remember it very clearly. All he recalled was seeing his father in the doorway of his hospital room, then his father approached him. Kai remembered struggling against him, the remembered feeling something sharp jam into his neck. No doubt a needle. Then everything went blank. He looked down at his legs which were once again shackled up to the wall. He pulled himself off of the floor and was able to move over to the stone bed and sit on it. He leaned back against the wall and sighed. Things just weren't going his way anymore. He was in the last place he wanted to be, and there was no way he could escape.

'A part of me really wishes I'd told those Bladebreaker jokers about all of this,' Kai thought to himself. 'At least then I'd have some chance of getting out…if they're my friends, like they so often claim to be, they'd get me out.' Kai dwelt on this for a little longer, and decided ultimately not to place false hope in his friends. They had no idea where he was, or what trouble he was in. Metal footsteps were heard out on the corridor, and they were approaching Kai's cell. They stopped at the door and opened it.

"Well! You're awake! Your father will be most pleased," the man said, moving into the room. The light from outside struck him, and Kai saw that it was Boris. Kai started to laugh. "I don't understand what could be so funny."

"You," Kai sneered as he stopped laughing. "Do all evil people in this organisation have to have those agitating metal shoes? Is it a part of the whole evil agenda? Or are you just kissing my dad's ass again Boris!" his remark was met with a punch to the face, and blood starting to pour profusely from Kai's nose.

"I'd shut up if you don't have anything useful to say Kai," Boris said, rubbing his knuckles.

"So I guess I won't be talking much now then?" came Kai's snide reply. He was hit again, and the impact sent a tearing pain through his head. One hand was trying to control the torrent of blood emerging from his nose, the other was rubbing his head, trying to soothe the pain in a childish fashion.

"Your father wishes to see you," Boris said, ushering in two guards who unlocked the chains binding Kai's legs. They pulled Kai to his feet, but after they did so, Boris ushered them away. He was planning to escort Kai himself. He gripped Kai's shoulder tightly and lead him out of the cell and to Hideaki's office on the upper floors of The Abbey. Kai kept his eyes to the floor the whole time. He wasn't looking forward to this meeting with his father. His back was still in agony from the last time. Boris opened the door to Hideaki's office and pushed Kai inside roughly.

"Leave us," Hideaki ordered. Boris nodded and closed the door. Was his father out of his mind? Even in this state Kai could do enough damage to The Abbey to make it barely recognisable. "How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better," Kai grumbled in response. In truth, he was feeling a lot better. He felt light-headed, a little relaxed, yet maybe just a little nauseous.

"Well, that's what I was expecting," Hideaki replied, walking away from the window which he had been stood in front of and moving over to where Kai was. Kai noticed both of his arm guards were on Hideaki's desk. He'd been wondering what had happened to them, after Hideaki had stolen one and the other had disappeared from Kai's pocket.

"Why do you say that?" Kai asked, dreading in the back of his mind to hear the answer. Hideaki brandished out a small empty vial. He dropped it into Kai's hands. He knew already why he was feeling good.

"I see it has started to take effect. You look a lot better," Hideaki smiled, walking away and sitting back at his desk.

"You bastard," Kai growled, throwing the vial across the room.

"Temper, temper now Kai," Hideaki said disapprovingly. "There's no need to get angry with me. I was just liberating you. You would have come back to me for more anyway, so I did you a favour. You should be thanking me."

"Thanking you?!! Thanking you for what?! Wrecking my life and forcing this shit back into my system?!! You're just as bad as my grandfather!!"

"My father was a great man, despite his idiocy and senile ideas. I respected my father, and I demand that you show me the same respect."

"Get a life. I'll never respect you as long as you live!"

"Oh I beg to differ Kai."

"Why is that?!"

"Because I have a little trick up my sleeve that will _force_ you to bend to my will. It involves your little Bladebreaker friends."

"What about them?" Kai froze over. What plan did his father have in store for the rest of the Bladebreakers?

"Well, they've been a thorn in my side since the day I met them. Your lack of enthusiasm about being confined to a hospital bed has helped to fuel their suspicions about your disappearance Kai. And thanks to the genetic data I stole from you, you will indeed be helping me to execute my will."

"W-What do you mean by that?" Kai started to panic. His friends agitated him, that was true, but he didn't want them hurt in this.

"I've already begun the process of cloning you from the DNA I obtained from your vital organs and such. He will be an exact replica of you. He'll go out and masquerade as you, so to say, and that'll be the Bladebreakers out of my way. Then the real fun will begin."

"Real fun? What do you mean by that?"

"Boris has no idea that I've been leading him on about the duplicated data. This wild goose chase I've placed Boris on has kept him out of my hair long enough for me to implement my real plan into action."

"So…these duplicated plans you're talking about…"

"Are another part of my elaborate plot to not only throw off the enemy, but to throw off that idiot Boris as well! Not too far back the Demolition Boys broke into The Abbey and duplicated what they thought was data on my scheme. It was all a decoy to get them off my scent."

"You're a mad scientist aren't you?"

"I'm a genius, Kai, I'm not mad. Well, the decoy plan is going to lead the Demolition Boys into believing that I'm going to use you as a weapon, but in reality that isn't true!"

"Then what _do_ you want from me?"

"You see…there's this little gadget I've been tinkering with…but in order to work it needs the life force of one human. Preferably a teenager of your age, as they tend to have more energy to give."

"Oh get real!! You're going to use a machine to take over the world?!"

"It's a very special machine. It creates artificial Bit Beasts."

"It won't work."

"Seeing as through many experiments we have noticed that the strength of the human soul denotes the strength of his Bit Beast, I'm planning to use you to conduct my will accordingly."

"Like I'll help _you_."

"You have no choice. Either you help, or one of them will. Hmmm…maybe Ray will be more cooperative…"

"Leave them out of this!! It's between you and me not them!!"

"If you say so Kai…" Hideaki sneered, looking over to the door. An unknown agent entered the room. He was obviously in on Hideaki's plan.

"Sir, the clone is ready for a field test," the agent said, stood bolt upright his arms held stiffly at his sides. Kai swallowed down hard.

"Wonderful! Send him in!" Hideaki replied with glee. The agent was gone for a few minutes then returned with a young teen who looked exactly like Kai in most respects, except he seemed more evil, and his garnet eyes seemed to burn with a dark flame. He even scared Kai a little. "Kai, meet your clone! He'll be standing in for you for a while so that your 'friends' will leave us alone."

"What about me?" Kai asked slowly, backing away from the clone. Hideaki came up behind him and gripped his shoulders tightly.

"You'll be staying with daddy for a little while," Hideaki jeered. Kai's eyes widened. His friends would never tell the difference.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure your friends don't die. By accident that is," the cloned Kai sneered. He was like a miniature version of Hideaki. This was obviously what Hideaki had wanted Kai to be. Kai gritted his teeth furiously.

"You know as well as I do that your Bladebreaker friends may be clever in some aspects, but trying to tell a clone and an original apart isn't up there with the things they can do. They can beat us at Beyblading, but they can't beat us at war. This is all over now Kai," Hideaki said, a sinister tone to his voice. Kai knew he was right. This was the end of it.

~~***~~

"I can't _believe_ Kai!" Ray growled furiously. "He did _exactly_ what we told him not to! Now he's wandering around out there, no doubt headed back to The Abbey to get his father and Boris! What a bastard!!"

"You guys…what if Kai didn't break out on purpose? What if Biovolt got to him?" Max implied, searching for hope, or a light at the end of this dark tunnel.

"Maxie, this is Kai we're talking about," Tyson said, agreeing with Ray. "He's not exactly the most obedient guy in the world. It's more likely that he broke out. The hospital security is too tight, there's no way he could have been kidnapped."

"The hospital's security is a lot more lax than you expected Tyson," a familiar Russian voice entered the conversation. They turned to face Tala, Bryan, Spencer and Ian: The Demolition Boys.

"Tala!!" Tyson cried out, almost gleefully. "What do you mean?"

"We were headed into the hospital at the time Kai was kidnapped. We saw his kidnapper: it was Hideaki. We were planning to give Kai a message of escape. The whole message wasn't received first time."

"Message? Run that by me again?" Tyson asked, confused.

"Kai didn't tell you about the message?" Tala asked, slightly surprised, but yet again this was Kai they were talking about.

"Get out of Russia you are being watched," Ray said, looking straight at Tala. "That was you?"

"It was all of us. Why is it that you, Ray, have read this, and yet the others are a blank to it?" Tala asked, turning to face Ray.

"I saw it in our room. I read it, and Kai got a bit mad and screwed it up. Why would he want to hide it?"

"I'm not even sure. Kai was supposed to receive a special medication with our letter, but it seems it did not reach him," Tala held out the rest of the letter, and the small bag taped to it. Ray took it and read the letter. It told Kai why he had to leave, and also that he should consume the contents of the bag.

"What's in the bag?" Ray asked, flipping the paper over and over again.

"A Biovolt-developed medication that prevents drug addiction or dependence. I'm guessing from his hospital state that he's been heavily intoxicated by now."

"Yeah…"

"Well, seeing as Hideaki is planning to use Kai as the spearhead for _his_ world domination plan, we should try and access The Abbey to retrieve Kai before any more damage is inflicted upon him."

"Spearhead? You mean they're gonna _force_ Kai to be their weapon?"

"That's the general idea. We stole information form Biovolt, and that's the conclusion we reached after we conducted an analysis."

"You guys are talking _way_ over my head," Tyson groaned, totally at a loss to understand what was going on in the conversation between Ray and Tala. He'd never been one for long words.

"But at least we know Kai _didn't_ break out on purpose," Max said, smiling happily, knowing that he was right. "But what we don't know is whether he's alright or not."

"It's a pity I didn't manage to get Kai tagged," Kenny sighed, opening up Dizzi and typing away at the keyboard. "I was planning to tag Kai with a tracking chip at one stage, just so we could keep an eye on him if he was to wander away. I got the chip finished, thanks to a few pieces of technology I borrowed from Biovolt, but I suppose it was all too late. Kai could be dead now, for all we know."

"Don't speak like that!" Ray snapped. "I _refuse_ to let myself believe Kai is dead! He's alive Chief! He's alive! And he'll be OK! I'll make sure he comes back to us alive, and to that I promise!"

"Your devotion is admirable Ray," Bryan said, almost smiling. "I hope it is this devotion that will save Kai."

"You and me both Bryan," Ray sighed, looking out to the direction of The Abbey. Just the thought of Kai being harmed boiled Ray's blood. He didn't like the idea that a psychopath was getting away with hurting one of _his_ friends.

'Not for long,' Ray thought. 'I promised Kai that I'd make sure he wasn't hurt anymore. He may not know it, but I will hold to that. Kai, I can't bear the thought of losing you. I'll get you back.' Just as they turned to go, however, they were approached by a two-tone haired teenager with impassive garnet eyes and a dark blue Beyblade in his hand. Ray gasped out.

"Kai!!" He cried in relief. Kai was OK.

__

I'm trapped behind a wall of ice

I'm screaming at you

Run, run away

You can't hear me

I can't reach you

Everything is falling apart

And we are all doomed to die

SN: Nine! Woo! Opening passage is taken from Thank You by The Calling. I may own a copy of the CD, but I do not own the track, or The Calling themselves. I am no record company exec. As I am no animé artist, so therefore I do not own Beyblade. And yes TigerTerror, if us fans owned Beyblade, we'd get Kai's scarf back. How cool was that scarf?! More sugar for Maxie!! Hoo hah!! Yeah, and we'd ditch V Force. That series really does suck. In my opinion anyway. =) This part is late cos of my illness and the fact that I'm literally losing my sanity. Too much stress makes me a very unhappy person, so yeah, I've been depressed.

Ideas are still being taken for the ending, so if you have an idea put it in your review. It's happy or sad! I leave it entirely with you. You choose! Oh, and to anyone curious as to where the hell I get the poems I have that aren't from songs…I make them up myself off the top of my head as I write. I try to link it to the situation. ^^

Now then…you know the drill by now…review!!! ^_^


	10. Rising Doubt

Ten

__

There's another world inside of me   
That you may never see   
There's secrets in this life   
That I can't hide   
Somewhere in this darkness   
There's a light that I can't find   
Maybe it's too far away...   
Maybe I'm just blind...   


"Kai you had us worried sick!!" Ray exclaimed, running over to his older friend. Kai had a dry smile on his face. In the back of his mind, this told Ray that something was amiss here, but he ignored it. He was too happy to see Kai alive. Another suspicious factor was how he suddenly seemed to be so much better than when they last saw each other. But these things were ignored by Ray.

"I'm fine Ray," Kai replied, looking over at the ecstatic Ray, who was now clasping onto Kai's hand. Ray was blind to the fact that the Kai that was before him was merely a duplicate of the real Kai, but then again so was everyone else.

"Well, I must admit you look a lot better Kai," the doctor sighed with relief. Tala looked on, a smile creeping onto his face. Maybe Kai was a lot tougher than he had first thought. Escaping The Abbey was no easy feat, so he had to give Kai some credit for that.

"I feel a lot better," Kai replied, keeping his gaze fixed on Ray. Another hint that there was something wrong. Kai had never shown such an interest in Ray before, and yet here it appeared he couldn't take his eyes off him. Max noticed this, and frowned doubtfully.

'Something just isn't right here, but I have no idea what…' Max thought, his doubt being expressed clearly on his usually bright and cheerful face. Yet he shoved these doubts to the back of his mind, much in the way Ray had. They all lead Kai back to the hotel to undergo a quick check-up. The doctor was amazed by how well Kai now appeared to be. His system was clear, his wounds were healed, and his energy seemed restored.

"This is incredible!" the doctor cried, utterly amazed at how unscathed Kai was after his experience. "I thought that after Biovolt snuck into the hospital and kidnapped you that you'd be in a worse condition than this, but it's almost as if they patched you up!"

"Why would they do that?" Max asked, his doubts coming back. His question was ignored, however, as everyone was too glad to see Kai well.

"I must admit you impress me Kai," Tala said, making his way over to Kai and the others. "It is no easy task to escape The Abbey. I am amazed that you were able to escape alone, and yet even we needed your aid to relinquish Boris' grasp on us. You truly are a strong Blader."

"Thanks…I guess…" Kai said, almost hesitantly. Max took into account the unusual look Kai was giving Tala. It was as if he was trying to burn into Tala's mind with his piercing garnet eyes. Ray's hand was still clasping Kai's, and he was showing no signs of letting go. Not that Kai appeared to mind, as he seemed to be holding on to Ray as much as Ray was holding onto him.

"Well, it looks like Hideaki won't be getting his weapon, will he?" Tyson turned to everyone and smiled, before focusing back on Kai. The doctor got up out of her crouched position and held her hand out for Kai.

"I'm going to leave you to recover with your friends now," she said smiling. Kai shook her hand weakly and she left. Max couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right with Kai. Draciel was telling Max the same thing. All wasn't well here.

~~***~~

Kai finally came round and found himself chained to the wall of his cell. There was a tight chain around his throat, his arms, his waist and his legs. It was incredibly uncomfortable, and he was straining to breathe. He tried to struggle free, but to no avail. Familiar metal footsteps made their approach towards Kai's cell. A dry laugh was trapped in Kai's throat, yet because of the tightness of the chain strangling him, he couldn't let it out. Boris and Hideaki entered, followed by three men in white lab coats.

"What now?" Kai asked weakly. He was still angry that he had had his identity taken from him, but like he was in any state to do something about it.

"We just want to run a few tests, that's all," Hideaki replied, motioning for the three scientists to enter the cell.

"Do they involve me being cut open this time?" Kai asked, and he couldn't help but release a slight laugh as he spoke.

"Not this time," Hideaki replied, looking at the notes on his clipboard. Kai felt the restraints on his arms loosen and disappear. This was either very good or very bad. "Begin the endurance test." Hideaki motioned to the scientists with a wave of his hand and the three men nodded. One held Kai's left arm up in a more upright position, in between being perfectly horizontal and perfectly vertical, while the other two hammered a large steel pin through his left hand. Kai bit back the urge to scream, as he felt the cold drip of blood run down his arm. Though this pain gave Kai some relief from the mental pain that tormented him, he didn't like it all the same. They did the same with his other arm, and sharply nailed the next steel pin into his right hand. Kai whimpered under his breath as the cold steel impacted with the bones in his hands, and broke right through them. No Beyblading for Kai, well not for a while anyway.

'Not like it matters,' Kai thought to himself bitterly. 'They stole Dranzer from me and gave it to that clone. They've taken everything from me; my Bit Beast, my Beyblade, my friends…can't they just take my life and put me out of my misery?' Kai was desperate to die. He was sick and tired of the pain, and he didn't want to resort to being one of those angst-ridden teenagers who feed off their own pain and suffering by drugging themselves up and slashing their wrists for kicks. That wasn't a life.

"You'll be here for 24 hours," Hideaki stated, looking up from his notes. "A test of endurance: to see if you're up to the task at hand."

"Fun…" Kai muttered. Hideaki lifted Kai's chin up, so that Kai's now dulled garnet eyes were looking into his own dark brown ones.

"You have your mother's eyes, how adorable," Hideaki sneered, grabbing Kai's chin tightly. Kai frowned.

"I'd rather be like her and die than live on with you," Kai growled in response. Hideaki smiled darkly and let go of Kai's chin.

"If you don't complete this endurance test, you will be with her Kai, I swear you will," he replied, before ushering Boris and the scientists out.

"Ooh…a father-son talk…this should be rich…" Kai half smiled, sarcasm weaved into every word. Hideaki whipped around to face his pinned son, and punched him in the stomach. Kai's weaknesses were exposed, and he had no way of defending himself, with his hands in the state they were.

"I hope your clone has killed them by now…I really do," Hideaki hissed, then left Kai alone. Kai's breathing relaxed and became shallower, and he worryingly noticed how relaxed he suddenly felt.

"Shit…those bastards…" Kai muttered, noticing the used needle on the floor by his feet. Did they _enjoy_ doing this to him?

'Stupid question,' Kai thought. 'It literally answers itself. Of course they enjoy making me suffer. They live for this. But I swear they'll all pay for this…but I hope to God, to anyone, that the Bladebreakers aren't dead…no matter how piss annoying they are, they don't deserve to die like that…please may one of them have noticed that he isn't me…please…'

~~***~~

"Kai…are you sure you're OK?" Max asked, looking over at Kai, who had kept his eyes on Ray ever since they'd been left alone. He was half focusing on the goings on of the outside world, and half on Ray. "You've been looking at Ray ever since you got back…"

"I'm fine Max, just stop worrying," Kai replied, still keeping his attention on Ray. Max was beginning to have his doubts. It dawned on him that Kai didn't have a bag with him when he was in the hospital, but he had brought one back with him from The Abbey. Max _had_ to know what was in the bag.

"Hey Ray, why don't you and Kai go and order dinner for tonight," Max suggested. Ray's face lit up.

"That sounds like a good idea Maxie. What do you think Kai?" Ray asked the older teen, who nodded almost immediately and got to his feet, following Ray out. Tyson and Kenny were in the next room with the Demolition Boys, so this gave Max ample time to conduct his own investigation. He walked quietly over to Kai's bag and opened it up. On top of the pile was Dranzer and its launcher. He lifted it out carefully, and pulled out some articles of clothing. His heart almost shot up to his throat when he saw what the clothing was hiding. Beneath it was a host of small hand rifles and sharp ornate blades. What was Kai _doing_ with all of these weapons?! Was he going to kill himself and everyone else along with him? It was a disturbing thought.

"Maxie!!" Tyson called from the other room. Max shoved Kai's clothing and his blade back in the bag and closed it quickly.

"What is it Tyson?!" Max called back. Tyson entered the room with Kenny, Tala, Spencer, Ian and Bryan.

"Where did Ray and Kai go?" he asked.

"Oh…they went to order dinner for us tonight," Max replied hastily. At that moment the door opened and Ray and Kai entered the room, both looked relaxed.

"What is it Maxie? You don't look too good," Ray noticed Max's pale face when he looked into Kai's eyes. There was a dark flame burning behind them that Max hadn't noticed before. It frightened him to look at. Then he realised. Kai's mind must have been warped: he wasn't going to kill himself, no not at all. He was there, sent by Hideaki no doubt, to kill _them_!

"Kai…" Max began, looking at his now sinister-looking 'team-mate'. Kai seemed to frown, as if he'd read Max's mind already. "Why…are there guns and knifes in your bag? What are you planning to do with them?" Kai looked furious. Ray, Tyson, Kenny and the Demolition Boys looked worried. Very worried. Kai approached Max. He was beyond furious.

"You went through my stuff?" Kai asked angrily. Max gulped.

"I was worried about you! I thought Hideaki had put drugs or something in your bag, and you were back to being dependent on them, so I checked! I just found about six loaded hand rifles and eight ornate Russian knifes! Who are you going to hurt with them Kai?"

"It doesn't matter Max," Kai whipped away, and sat down on the bed. "It's none of your business anyway."

"You're going to kill us…aren't you?" Max asked the question dreaded by almost everyone in the room. "What happened to you in there Kai, to turn you this way?" Kai looked over at Max, then reached slowly into his pocket, a dark, sinister laugh escaping his lips as he did so.

"Maxie, Maxie, Maxie…" Kai sighed, gripping onto something in his pocket tightly. "You do have a wild imagination."

"I didn't _imagine_ those weapons Kai!" Max protested, pulling the contents of the bag out again and revealing the host of weapons to all in the room. They all seemed to freeze in terror. Kai got to his feet, smiling.

"If you don't mind, I'd like a private word with Ray," he said, looking over in Ray's direction. Ray looked worried; even scared.

"Not with all this stuff here you're not!" Max stated defiantly, clutching onto the bag in his arms. Kai growled under his breath and whipped a hand rifle out of his pocket. He aimed it straight at Max.

"Get the hell out of here! All of you! Before I shoot your fucking heads in!" Kai demanded, holding the gun perfectly still and at a perfect angle to cause some serious damage. Tyson walked forward, but Tala grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into the next room. Everyone followed. "Not you Ray," Kai said as Ray got to the door. Ray gulped. "I want to talk with you." Ray's heart was racing. All his doubts about Kai were resurfacing. This couldn't be the same Kai that had helped the Bladebreakers to victory in the World Tournament only weeks before. He may wield Dranzer, but this wasn't Kai.

__

When your education x-ray   
Can not see under my skin   
I won't tell you a damn thing   
That I could not tell my friends   
Roaming through this darkness   
I'm alive but I'm alone   
Part of me is fighting this   
But part of me is gone

SN: Shorter than the others but I've got a long plan in action here. Thanks to Maeris for the lyric suggestion. Both the opening and the closing paragraphs are from the song When I'm Gone by Three Doors Down. I don't own the lyrics, I don't own the track, I don't own Beyblade. All I own are the masses of stuff in my room, including this computer I'm using and about eight posters of Orlando Bloom. Don't ya just wish you could hold more power some days? Oh and to Elcy Name, thanks for your kind words about my story. They lifted me up while I was feeling down. So much so, I posted this.

Please review, so that I can combat the killer migraines I'm getting to post more. I need all the help I can get. ^^;;; to hell wit migraines! Up with fanfiction!


	11. The Pain Will Endure

Eleven

__

I often wonder why I carry all this guilt

When it's you that helped me put up

All these walls I've built

Shadows stir at night

Through a crack in the door

Echoes of a broken child

Screaming please no more

Daddy don't you understand

The damage you have done

For you it's just a memory

But for me it still lives on

Ray felt uneasy, to say the least. There Kai was, or who he thought was Kai, standing behind him fully armed with a hand rifle. And in the corner, the bag Max had dropped on his hasty exit, where even more dangerous weaponry resided. Ray wanted out. He wanted to run.

"I'm sorry Ray," Kai sighed, dropping the gun on the bed. "You don't have to worry about the gun. It's full of blanks."

"What about all those other guns? Are they loaded?" Ray asked nervously.

"No, they're all blanks," Kai reassured Ray, a slight smile on his face. " I just brought them along to scare Tyson."

"Well, you did more than just scare Tyson," Ray replied, his voice was shaky from the fright still. Kai advanced towards Ray, and looked into Ray's deep amber eyes thoughtfully. "Er…you wanted to talk…?" Ray said, nervously and yet with an edge of haste. He hated this situation, and wanted to be out of it.

"Oh yeah," Kai said, turning and taking a few steps before whipping back round to face Ray. "I'm not out to hurt anyone Ray, especially not you."

"Why me?"

"There's something about you that I like…I can't explain it really."

"What do you mean?" Ray felt himself start to get flustered. What was Kai implying?

"I said, I can't explain it. It's just…the way you act…and the way you treat your friends…it just feels wonderful. I've never felt needed by anyone before."

"What are you getting at Kai?" Ray asked, as Kai advanced towards him. They stood in front of each other for a few moments. Ray was unable to shake off the uneasy feeling he got whenever he looked into Kai's eyes. There was something…wrong with them. They didn't feel like Kai's eyes. Kai put a hand on Ray's shoulder. Though it wasn't exactly close physical contact, Ray was still disturbed by this. This just couldn't be the Kai they all knew as a cold sour puss. No way.

"You intrigue me Ray," Kai said after a short while, turning his head gently onto one side, and letting a small smile creep onto his lips. "You treat me like a person, instead of a tool like my grandfather did. Thank you." and with that Kai lifted his hand from Ray's shoulder and walked off into the bathroom.

Ray paused to gather himself. Could this really be Kai? No, it couldn't be. This couldn't possibly be the Kai he called his friend. He was too friendly for his own good. Something was amiss, and Ray had to find out what. Looking over at the bag, he grabbed a larger rifle and put it in the back of his belt. He had a feeling he'd have to shoot whoever this impostor was to get any answers. Because he knew for a fact there were no blanks in these guns…

~~***~~

Kai hadn't slept in a long time. His mind was sick with worry, and his body was wracked with pain. No matter how undoubtedly agitating the Bladebreakers were, he didn't want them to get hurt. They'd shown him compassion and friendship out on Lake Baikal, and they saved his life. He had to at least repay his debt to them before he'd feel any better.

His hands were so numb with the agony that he's lost track of everything. Almost all of his senses were shut down because of the pain. He was barely able to see because even that pained him. He felt his muscles start to tremble, and he looked over at the dried blood all over his arms and hands. The steel pins no longer shone the way they had before they were implanted. They were tainted with the stains of blood, and it made them look rusty, as if they'd been in there for a long time. Kai willed himself to just give up and die, but his heart refused to give up on his friends. That was it. They were it. They were his driving force in life. He had to stay alive for them now, if only to coach them. He _had_ to get out of here and save them, before it was too late. But how?

The all-too-familiar sound of metal footsteps reached Kai's ears. He'd been able to distinguish between the types of footsteps, to determine if he was to be visited by his father or Boris. Today it was his father.

"Oh joy, a visitor," Kai said, the sarcasm in his voice barely noticeable due to its hoarseness. Hideaki smiled, and started to laugh.

"You're still alive, I am impressed," he replied, his arms folded loosely across his chest. "I thought you would have died by now, but here you are, still breathing."

"Much to your dismay, I'm sure."

"Oh contraire my Kai. I'd hoped you'd stick this out."

"And why may I ask is that?"

"Without you, who will power my device?"

"Oh you're so thoughtful."

"I'm your father Kai. What did you expect?"

"I don't know what to expect from you anymore. You're as unpredictable as you are stupid."

"Watch your tongue there boy."

"Ooh I'm scared."

"Someone didn't get much sleep last night."

"I couldn't. how could I when I have my clone out there killing my friends?!"

"So they _are_ your friends?!"

"I…" Kai stopped. He'd called them his friends. Did he mean it? Or was he just trying to protect _himself_? Was he only referring to them as 'friends' so that Hideaki would maybe consider showing them mercy and just forgetting them? Like that would happen. Kai didn't want them involved in this. If they got involved, more of his weaknesses would be exposed for them to pick apart. No. he didn't want them involved. Then why was he calling them his friends? Did he actually _care_ about this circus troupe of a team?

'Of course you do Kai. You're sticking up for them. You owe them that much at least,' Kai's thoughts replied for him. 'Look at all they've done for you. They stayed by your side when you were a jerk towards them, they rescued you from what would have been your icy grave, they stuck by you when you cried your heart out about your mom…cut them some slack, they're a nice bunch of people really. But…I suppose you can't risk their involvement. I think you're going to have to play for this idiot. You'll have to pretend, so that you can do what a team captain should: look out for the team. A foreign concept, yeah, but it saves you the trouble of trying to explain this to Tyson later.' Kai came to his conclusion.

"Well?!" Hideaki asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"No," Kai mumbled in response.

"Pardon?"

"No. The least thing those idiots are to me are my friends. Yeah, we bladed on the same team for a while, yeah we won the World Tournament together. That doesn't make them my friends. It was a mistake for me to call them that." Kai paused, looking at the floor to try and focus himself. He didn't feel all that good at all. "Leave them alone. They haven't done anything to you."

"I know…but it's all to hurt you Kai. I know they're your friends, no matter how much you deny it, hence why I have to hurt them. It's all a vicious circle."

"Just get down to it. Why are you here ruining my life?"

"Your 24 hours are over. Time to come down."

"Ooh yay, and maybe this time I'll get stapled to the wall!! Sounds like an idea!!"

"Keep your little remarks to yourself, boy." Cold steel met with bare flesh as Hideaki started to hit Kai with a metal rod. He smashed the rod into Kai's torso, his arms and his legs, but the numbness from his hanging torment kept him from feeling any further pain, all he heard were a couple of loud cracks, emanating from his left arm. That was going to hurt. As soon as he could feel his arm again, that was.

"Are you done?" Kai asked weakly. Hideaki nodded, and called in two bodyguards, who wrenched Kai down rather painfully. Blood collided with the floor and the walls loudly, and the spatter of fresh blood falling from Kai's torn hands could be heard from down the hall.

"I'm done," Hideaki replied, motioning for the two guards to lift Kai to his feet. "Here's the fun part. You'll be coming with me to the lab now, and I intend on placing you into the control of my machine. Have a nice life, do let your mother know I miss her when you see her." and with that Kai was dragged off down the hall, with Hideaki in tow.

~~***~~

"This isn't right," Tala said, pacing up and down Tyson, Max and Kenny's room. It had been very quiet in Ray and Kai's room, and everyone was starting to get concerned. "They've been in there for too long. Something is wrong."

"I'm real scared for Ray, Tyson," Max said, looking up at the slightly hysterical teen, who looked as if he was about ready to keel over.

"So am I Maxie," Tyson replied. What was Kai thinking?! Was Ray going to be OK? Maybe Ray was already dead. They had no idea.

"Hideaki must have done something terrible to Kai to make him this way," Bryan said eventually, before the tension could grow too thick.

"I have to agree," Ian replied, nodding. "Sure, Kai isn't the most social person you're ever going to meet, but he's not exactly the type to wield around a host of blades and guns! That's not his style!"

"I dare not even think what's running through Kai's mind right now," Kenny said, his voice shaky.

"Well, if Max had actually brought that weapons bag _out_ with him, maybe we wouldn't all be so on edge!" Dizzi complained from her laptop confinement.

"Hey! He had a gun in his hand!" Max cried in his defence. "What was I supposed to do in between being rushed out in fear of my life!"

"You _could_ have kept hold of the bag," Dizzi replied. Max sighed, defeated. Beaten by a laptop, how humiliating. Dizzi was right though. If Max had kept hold of the bag then maybe they _wouldn't_ be so worried.

"It's nobody's fault," Tala turned to face the defeated Max. "Kai has a lot on his mind right now, and whatever happened when he was taken back to The Abbey must have instigated him to do this."

"This is frustrating!!" Spencer yelled, pacing continuously up and down the room, anger embedded into every thunderous step he took.

"We know Spencer, just keep your cool big guy," Ian said in response. Spencer shot Ian a glare, then sighed, realising that getting mad wasn't helping Ray. Tyson could hear soft voices in the next room, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He pressed his ear against the door.

"Tyson quit that!" Kenny yelled over to him. "If Kai finds out you were eavesdropping then we could all be in trouble!!"

"Relax Chief!" Tyson said, smiling, pulling himself away from the door and walking over to Kenny. "I can't hear a thing anyway. They're talking really quietly." a loud shot was heard from the next room. It was gun fire. It was heard two more times and then silence. Their breath was caught in their throats. Their first intuition told them that this wasn't good. Max swallowed down hard. No one dared to move. Then they realised that Ray could be hurt, or worse, dead.

"Ray!!" Max cried, jumping to his feet and running into the next room. "Ray!!!!"

__

Is this all it takes

To call life to an end

Its like a delicate flower

Blowing on the wind

Once caught and crushed

It can never grow back

Is that the fate

I was destined to follow?

Is this all there is?

Was I born to suffer?

SN: Eleven!! ^__^ Woo hoo!!! 100 reviews!!!!! *hands out great gifts to all reviewers who made this possible* You all rock! I am the happiest person in the world!!

The opening paragraph is from the song I'm OK by Christina Aguilera. You see the gig, you get inspired. Must remember to credit Tiger Terror once again for the awesome idea of the whole cloning Kai thing. You may have missed it the first time I said it TT, so I humbly thank you again. ^_^

My dear little angels, Maire and Fionnuala, implore you with all their chibi angelic power to review!! They may only be pin badges, but they're sparkly ones!!! 

Hugs to all regular reviewers: TigerTerror, Lissom-howler, treachery89, DragonBlade, Elcy Name and Maeris. If I've missed anyone out, hugs anyway!! You all gave me over 100 reviews, which is one of the most awesome Christmas presents you can get. This chapter is a bit late because of more problems with my utterly confusing mental state.

Review anyway, cos you're just wonderful!!! Do it!!!


	12. Exposing The Shadows

Twelve

__

Through this world I've stumbled  
So many times betrayed  
Trying to find an honest word

To find the truth enslaved  
Oh you speak to me in riddles  
And you speak to me in rhymes  
My body aches to breathe your breath  
Your words keep me alive  


Ray's breathing was heavy. He was nervous. Scratch that, he was afraid. Kai was in the bathroom, so he was in the clear for now, but what would happen when Kai got out? Would he just ask him outright what was going on? Ray felt the shaft of the rifle jam into his lower back. It was there to serve as a constant reminder of his predicament. Nothing could shut his fear out.

Kai emerged from the bathroom, looked over at Ray briefly, then walked over to his bed and sat down.

"You look worried," Kai noted, taking into account Ray's distressed expression. His face was giving him away. Ray shook his head slightly, to try and dismiss the dread that was amassing in his mind.

"I'm fine Kai, don't worry," Ray forced a smile onto his face. Kai didn't look convinced. Ray's once placid, friendly amber eyes now looked a torrent of fear and confusion, and Kai could see this.

"No you're not," Kai stated, looking over at Ray again. "You're afraid. I can see it in your eyes. Why are you scared of me Ray?"

"I'm…not…" Ray replied, but the fear in his voice was all too obvious now. Kai got to his feet, a stern look on his face.

"You're lying to me Ray."

"Why would I lie?"

"To protect yourself from the unknown? I don't know. You tell me."

"I'm being honest here Kai. I'm not afraid of you."

"Your eyes are telling me a different story Ray. There's fear in them."

"I…I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Stop playing with me Ray."

"I'm not!! Back away Kai I swear!! Back away or I'll hurt you!"

"I doubt that. I really do. What would you hurt me with?"

"This!!" and with that Ray pulled the gun out from the back of his belt and fired blindly at Kai. He opened his eyes for a split second, and saw Kai stained in his own blood. He then winced his eyes shut again and fired twice more. A huge adrenaline shot coursed through Ray's body as he pulled the trigger all three times. He slowly opened his eyes to find Kai rested against a wall, his blood coating everything.

"Ray!!" a familiar voice cried out, emanating from the next room. "Ray!!!!" it was Max. He bolted through the door, then stopped and looked at Ray in utter disbelief. Ray's hands were trembling. Fake or no fake, he'd just shot someone. He could be taken down for murder, and jailed. "Ray…" Max's voice trailed away as he looked at the blood all over the walls, floor, beds and even Ray himself. Tyson, Kenny, Tala, Spencer, Ian and Bryan ran in after Max, and they all stopped just behind him, unable to speak. They were horrified. Kai was bleeding to death against a wall, and Ray was stood before him, a smoking rifle in his hands.

"What the hell did you just do Ray?!!" Tyson asked, unable to believe what his friend had just done.

"He's…not Kai…" Ray said meekly in his defence.

"You're right," Kai replied weakly. "I'm not. I'm just…a carbon copy…a clone, if you want…" Kenny gasped.

"Biovolt have harnessed cloning technology?!!" Kenny asked, taking it all in slowly. "Hideaki really has brought out the mercilessness of his father's corporation, hasn't he?"

"Heh, he's a bastard," Kai smiled, noticeably dying at this point. "I'll tell you…everything I know…because you treated me like a person…instead of a tool for massacre."

"We're listening," Ray said, taking a seat.

"Hideaki used samples of the real Kai's DNA to create a carbon copy of him. He obtained all of this genetic data through the operations and torture procedures Kai endured during his previous experience at The Abbey, prior to this one," Kai winced in pain, but swallowed it down and continued. "Hideaki isn't using Kai to spearhead any operation. He's going to take Kai's soul, something his father failed to claim, and use it to power his new machine."

"What does it do?" Kenny asked softly.

"It creates artificial Bit Beasts. "They'll feed off of Kai's soul, and it will consume and kill him." everyone's breath was caught in their throats.

"So…the plans we thought we found…" Tala began.

"Were a part of an elaborate hoax by Hideaki to throw everyone, including Boris, off," Kai finished, struggling against the deadly sleep that so threatened to take him. "Ray."

"Yes?" Ray asked, moving closer to Kai and kneeling by his bleeding body.

"Do me a favour," Kai asked.

"What?" Ray asked. As he finished his question, Kai placed his finger over Ray's and helped him pull the trigger, to release the final bullet into Kai's chest.

"Thank you…" Kai muttered, smiling before allowing death to wash over him. Ray's eyes were wide. He'd killed someone.

"You OK Ray?" Tyson asked, approaching Ray cautiously.

"I…guess…" Ray replied slowly, getting to his feet.

"He just wanted life…but he couldn't take Kai's…not after seeing all he has seen," Tala said. Everyone turned to look at the icy-eyed Beyblader.

"What do you mean?" Ray asked.

"This carbon copy saw with his own eyes how wonderful it is to have friends on your side. He's at a loss, it would seem, to understand why Kai shuns you. He has seen how deeply your bond with Kai runs, and he is now giving you the chance to save Kai's life. We can't pass this up: we have to do what we can. For Kai!"

"For Kai!" Tyson yelled proudly. "For our friend, our team mate, our captain!"

"Yeah!" Max cried with delight. "Let's get ready to kick some Biovolt butt!" they smiled at one another, and together said the three famous words spoken at the start of every great Bey battle:

"Let it rip!!"

~~***~~

Kai felt sluggish and heavy. A splitting pain tore down the side of his head, and the soft spatter of blood falling from his face could be heard. What had Hideaki done to him? Kai tentatively lifted a hand up to his face. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't restrained. He could escape. But what Kai felt on his face changed all of that. He felt cold metal and sterile glass. It was some sort of metal visor, which swept down the left hand side of his face, encasing the most part of it in stainless steel. Over Kai's left eye was rose tinted glass, protruding from the main body of the visor. With his fingers, Kai tried to pry the machine from his face, but was met with more blood and pain. It had been grafted onto his face! With his other hand, he felt another metal implant on the right side of his head, which was connected to a long cable emanating from the back of Kai's skull. Was this Hideaki's machine?

"Good morning son," a familiar sinister voice filled the room. It belonged to Hideaki. Kai turned to face him, an expression mixed with anger and horror painted onto his usually calm impassive face.

"What is this?!!" Kai yelled, but his question was laced with panic. It was all too easy for Hideaki to realise Kai was afraid.

"My machine, Kai," Hideaki replied, walking slowly over to his son's side. "you may have noticed the cable in the back of your skull. We put you under a very strong anaesthetic, and implanted it into your brain. I connected it to the part of your brain that controls your memories, as that is no doubt our most valuable source from your mind."

"No…no!!!" Kai cried out, completely terrified.

"Yes, my son!! You'll forget those stupid Bladebreakers, you'll forget Dranzer, you'll forget Beyblading, you'll forget Biovolt…you'll even forget your mother…"

"NO!! You can't make me forget her!! Not her!!"

"I can and I will Kai. She is dead, as you soon will be, my boy. But when you cross over, she'll know you, but you won't know her!!" Hideaki let out a menacing laugh. Kai's breath was shaky. Hideaki was ruthless at picking apart Kai's weaknesses. He knew his biggest weakness was his mother, dead or alive. This was a bad situation, and a bad place to be. Why hadn't he just listened to that note and left Russia when he had the chance? Now his whole horrifying past was coming back to get him, and he'd spent his entire life trying to forget it. There was more to repressing his memories that just Black Dranzer. Hideaki had been the main reason for wanting to shut his past into the dark.

'This is bad,' Kai thought. 'I'm placing all the hope I have in those Bladebreakers. If they don't figure that clone out before its too late, they'll lose their Bit Beasts! And not just that…no that will only be the beginning…come on Tyson you idiot!! That isn't me!! Figure it out!! Tyson!!'

~~***~~

"OK someone remind me what we're doing again?" Tyson asked, scratching his head thoughtfully. Behind him were the Demolition Boys and his Bladebreaker team mates. The body of the dead Kai copy was in the arms of Tala, who immediately voted himself to be the body's carrier, as Ray was too shook up to do much.

"Idiot," Bryan muttered under his breath. "Tyson we're heading to The Abbey to get the real Kai back, and expose Hideaki's sham."

"But if Kai is gonna be in a machine, won't it be a bit hard to get him out if he's all hooked up to all the wires and stuff already?" Tyson asked yet another question, but this time he had raised an interesting point. If Hideaki already had Kai wired into his machine, then the chances of getting Kai out unharmed were slim. Tala gritted his teeth. They hadn't planned this out very well. They hadn't thought of the worst case scenario yet: if they got to Kai too late and he was dead.

"Tyson raises a good point Tala," Kenny piped up, picking up his pace to match the infuriated Tala's. "What if Kai is already wired to the machine? What are the odds of getting Kai out without hurting him?"

"A million to one I'm afraid," Tala replied, through his anger. "The wires will no doubt penetrate his brain and extract whatever power Hideaki is looking to take. If he succeeds in doing this, then Kai is in huge trouble. Whatever Hideaki is looking to remove from Kai is obviously something vital to Kai's survival, so my suggestion is that we pick up the pace, and pray we're not too late." everyone agreed and broke out into a run. Soon enough, The Abbey came into sight. Upon seeing the towers of the building, the Bladebreakers picked up speed, with the Demolition Boys in pursuit. Tala stopped them all at the gate. "I know how to trip The Abbey's security, so wait here," and with that Tala handed the dead clone to Bryan and snuck into The Abbey. Several minutes later, Tala returned.

"Is it clear?" Bryan asked. Tala nodded. Everyone tiptoed inside and made their way into the main building. They were lead along endless corridors, that all looked identical to one another. It was like an underground labyrinth had been built just to keep them from finding Kai.

"Mr Hideaki, everything is ready to your specification, sir," an unfamiliar faint voice could be heard down one of the corridors. On impulse, Tyson darted down the corridor, despite Tala hissing at him to stay put. Tyson knew in his heart that Kai was wherever that voice was coming from.

"That's excellent. Are you ready, boy?" another unfamiliar voice asked someone in the room. The voice had to be Hideaki's. their voices grew louder, until Tyson found himself overlooking a sea of Biovolt-trained Beybladers, awaiting the issuing of their own Bit Beasts. Tyson sunk to the floor and crawled on his stomach over to the dark metal rail, after which there must have been at least a two storey drop down to the ground. Tyson let out a hushed gasp when he saw Hideaki. He was about as sinister as Tyson had thought he would be. But his heart leapt into his throat when he saw to whom Hideaki was addressing his question. It was a weakened, battered, exhausted teenager, whose skin and hair were stained with the dark crimson paint of blood, and the dark blue triangles tattooed on his face were barely even visible under the heaviness of the painful crimson stains. His garnet eyes were running out of strength, and the temptation to just close and never open again was evident within them. He was ready to surrender to his fate. Tyson could barely believe it.

"No I'm not, but like it matters to you," came Kai's hoarse, weak reply. Their strong, proud team captain had been beaten into submission. All Tyson could see of their once arrogant leader were weakness, frailty and a dark longing for an end. Tyson couldn't believe it had come down to this. Somehow, Hideaki had done something no one had ever done before: he'd broken Kai down.

"No, Kai…" Tyson said in a whispered voice. He couldn't sit by and watch his team mate, his friend give in to the shadowed fate that had been dealt to him by Hideaki. He wasn't a tool for any war. He was a human being, and he didn't deserve to bear this pain alone. With an iron-willed determination on his side, Tyson got to his feet and stood proudly above the sea of people, catching the gaze of Hideaki.

"Who are you??!!"

__

There's more power in you

Than even you know

I can see it in your eyes

So stand tall and don't fall

Don't let the light die

And pull him back up to his feet again

Though shadows stand between you

Only you can prevail

So never cease in your plight

For now we are to see the start

Of your personal fight

SN: There's chapter twelve. Only a couple of chapters left and then its closing time! Has anyone, anyone at all, got any idea what I should do next? This is a bloody hard act to follow, and my brain is fried from trying. Nothing I do is any good in comparison! Help would be much appreciated. The opening paragraph is from Possession by Sarah McLachlin. A very beautiful song.

Oh, and by the by, in the ending vote, thus far the happy ending option is in the lead. You don't want it to be? Vote sad ending in your review! You want happy to stay there? Vote happy ending in your review! I'll let ya know when the voting must end. Thank you for your participation.

Review happy people! Woo haa!!

__

~~For Elcy Name: because the honour is all mine~~


	13. Foundations of Strength

Thirteen

__

It doesn't matter what I want

It doesn't matter what I need

It doesn't matter if I cry

Don't matter if I bleed

You've been on a road

Don't know where it goes

Or where it leads

"My name is Tyson, and I'm not going to stand here and let you hurt my friend Kai anymore. You may be his father, but what kind of a father _are_ you if you're forcing your own son to give up his life so you can have a stab at carrying out _your_ father's plans? Well, I'm not going to let you get away with it. I may just be one Beyblader, and I may only have one Bit Beast, but I'm going to take you down! One way or another!" Tyson's opening speech even took Kai aback slightly, but Kai was more angry than delighted to see his friend. What the hell was Tyson _doing_ here?! Did he know he could be killed just for standing there?!

"Tyson!" Kai hissed, his voice had lost its usually sharp, bitter edge, and he just sounded frail and exhausted. Kai hated himself for opening his mouth while he was like this, but he had to get that idiot out of the way and out of his business. "Tyson get the hell out of here!"

"No Kai. You're in no state to be dishing out orders to someone who's here to save you, and I'm in no mood to be listening to you," Tyson replied sternly. Kai couldn't believe it. Though he admired Tyson's attitude, standing up to him like that, he was still slightly outraged that Tyson had even tried standing up to him. Was _he_ the team captain? No.

"Tyson, listen to me, this is no place for you to be right now--" Kai felt all the strength in his legs suddenly leave him and he crashed to the ground, only to have his numb arms grabbed by two of his father's strong guards. What a humiliating experience. Falling like a weak child in front of one of the people he'd put such a strong front up against.

"So…you're Tyson Granger, the World Beyblade Champion…" Hideaki sneered, looking up at Tyson.

"That's me, and I'm guessing you're Hideaki. Your little faker told us everything about your scheme," Tyson replied, his defiance holding firm.

"I had a feeling that the clone hadn't survived."

"Oh yeah, he's dead alright. I'll bring him in to you in a second, but where is your little lap dog Boris? I thought he'd be here."

"Boris? That idiot? He'd just screw the whole thing up! Look at how far I've come without Boris around, boy. Your dear friend Kai is ready to surrender himself to death, and I'm ready to take control of the world with my army of Bit Beasts. I do believe I've won."

"Oh no, Hideaki. You haven't won. Not yet." and with that Tyson leapt over the rail and down to where Hideaki, Kai and the other Beybladers were standing. The impact hurt his ankles a bit, but he was willing to ignore his pain if it meant saving Kai. Besides, the pain he was feeling had to be nothing compared to how Kai was feeling, and from the looks of things Kai felt pretty terrible. It was only down here, as close to Kai as he was, that Tyson could see the full extent of Kai's injuries. It looked as if his hands were in bad condition and his arm had several breaks in it. Blood stained his face, and he looked worn and wrecked. He must have endured something horrifying to come out looking this beaten in. Tyson's breath was taken away by the whole affair.

"Surprised, young Granger? Surprised to see what a father can do to his only son?" Tyson swallowed back his horror and reaffixed his gaze on the menacing Hideaki.

"No I'm not," Tyson replied. "After hearing what you did to Kai's mother, it doesn't surprise me at all that you'd do something so inhuman to your only son." the two guards pulled Kai away from Tyson and held him hard against a wall.

"Is the machine working now?!" Hideaki yelled to them.

"Yes sir," they replied in unison. And with that, a strange machine on Tyson's left side came to life, and started generating huge balls of pure energy and placing them in Blade Bits. The children gathered there ran forward to claim their new Beyblades and prepared themselves to fight Tyson. Kai felt his vision start to blur. Strange patches of darkness seemed to place themselves between himself and Tyson, and slowly but surely, names and faces became hushed whispers in Kai's memory, and eventually succumbed to the enveloping darkness. When Kai's vision focused, he didn't know where he was.

"Tyson!!" a familiar voice called out. Ray, Max, Kenny and the Demolition Boys had finally decided to make themselves known, but they were horrified by what they saw. A defeated, weakened Beyblader was restrained helplessly against a wall, strange metal components covering a great deal of his face a head. They couldn't believe Hideaki had eroded Kai down to this.

"Kai!!" Ray called out to his weak friend. Kai lifted his head, and uttered three words which would haunt their minds.

"…Who are you?"

They were stunned into silence. What was happening?!

"Kai, it's me, Tyson. And up there; up there its Ray, Max, Kenny, Tala, Bryan, Spencer and Ian. The dead guy in Tala's arms is that clone your father made of you," Tyson replied, a worried, pleading tone in his voice.

"I…don't know what you're talking about…I don't know any of you!" Kai replied, his gaze looking lost and dark.

"Kai…" Max said, unable to take in what Kai was saying. Had he forgotten them? What had happened? Hideaki was laughing.

"It's useless boys, he doesn't know you anymore," Hideaki sneered, and all attention focused on him. "I'm drawing the strength I need for my Bit Beasts from Kai's memories. All of his blocked feelings and emotions are linked to his memories, and that is merely one power source. I'm also draining all of Kai's life energy. He's going to get weaker and weaker, and eventually, he's going to forget everything, maybe even how to breathe!"

"You're sick Hideaki!" Ray growled.

"I wouldn't call myself sick," Hideaki looked up at Ray. "You must be Ray Kon. And your blonde friend must be little Max Tate, Judy's boy."

"How do you know my mom?!" Max asked angrily.

"She works for the BBA. I make it my business to know what I'm up against," Hideaki replied, a small smile creeping onto his sinister face.

"We know all about your plan Hideaki, so I suggest you just give it up now!" Kenny stated boldly.

"Who's going to make me? You, Kenny?" Hideaki sneered. "Besides, you all came just a tad too late. The moment that machine attached itself to Kai he was as good as mine. This process is irreversible, and now its underway, you're all powerless to save him!!"

"Oh no…" Tyson gasped in horror. He could tell from Kai's lost and dark expression that Hideaki was telling the truth. Was this seriously the end? Has he won now? The machine suddenly came to a stop, and the Bit Beasts were no longer being passed out to what Tyson would call "eager beaver young Beybladers". Hideaki was laughing again.

"Now my Bit Beast army is ready!!" he sneered, looking over to Tyson, as the Bladebreakers and the Demolition Boys came down to join him, the dead clone in the arms of Tala. "Under normal circumstances I would set my Beybladers against you…but these aren't normal circumstances…" with a click of his fingers, several armed guards stole the dead clone from Tala's arms and removed the Beyblade he had been carrying. He then proceeded in throwing the clone aside, as if he were nothing more than a broken toy with no further use now that he was broken. The Beyblade was pressed into Kai's hands, it being Dranzer, and his Beyblade after all. "For this special occasion, I'll set him onto you." Hideaki rested a heavy hand onto his son's shoulder.

"You…you must be joking!!" Tyson cried out.

"No I'm not," Hideaki replied, his dark smile playing still on his lips. "Kai," Hideaki then turned his attention to his void-looking son, shaking his shoulder viciously. "Kai, you are to attack these intruders. It is your mission to bring them down and take their Bit Beasts for me. Do you understand, my son?" there was a long pause before any kind of response came. The response was what no one was expecting, but it chilled their very blood to hear it spoken.

"Yes…father," came Kai's almost android response, as if he were programmed to say that. He lifted his gaze from the ground, an expression mixed with determination and anger emblazoned on his face. Tyson took a step back, unable to believe what he was seeing. Kai gripped his launcher, ignorant of the writhing agony it was causing him, and placed his Beyblade into it. With his other hand he tore the rip chord from the launcher and sent Dranzer flying towards his team mates. His former team mates. Even though Kai chose to ignore the pain inflicted by launching his Beyblade, everyone else could clearly see that it had to hurt. Fresh blood was spattered up Kai's already bloodied arm, and large quantities of it covered his launcher and the rip chord. Even Dranzer seemed to be stained with it. On impulse, the Demolition Boys and the Bladebreakers let rip their own Beyblades and sent them into the fray, but Tyson was hesitant.

"We can't fight Kai…" Tyson said slowly, almost as if he were entranced by Kai's anger. "We can't…he's still in there you guys…we can't hurt him…"

"Tyson wake up!!" Bryan yelled angrily. "Kai is gone!! We've lost him now!! You and I both know he would prefer for us to beat him down now before he causes any hurt to anyone else!!"

"No Bryan…no you're wrong…" Tyson said, his voice was paced slowly, he was still struggling to comprehend it all. "I can save Kai…I can reach him…"

"He's dead Tyson!!!" Tala yelled, fury settling alight in his icy eyes. "Give up all hope you had of being the hero here Tyson. Either way, Kai is dead now. His soul belongs to Hideaki now, as does his body and his mind!! We can't reach him now!! He's fallen to a place where no one can rescue him!!" Ray also seemed hesitant, as did Max. they watched on silently as the Demolition Boys set Falborg, Wolborg, Seaborg and Wyborg on Dranzer. Driger, Draciel and Dragoon stood at the sidelines and observed the battle, not participating due to their partner's hesitation.

"What are you guys waiting for, a written invitation!!?" Bryan screamed to the Bladebreakers. "He's going to steal your Bit Beasts!! You're not putting up much of a fight to save them!!"

"We…can't…" Ray replied meekly.

"We can't hurt Kai…" came Max's fearful reply.

"Are you guys serious?!!" Ian asked, disgusted that they weren't sticking up for their Bit Beasts. "He'll take them away from you _forever_!!! He's not the Kai you all thought was your friend anymore!! That Kai is dead!!"

"I won't…hurt Kai…" Tyson said, his tempo still slow, but his tone was firm and decided. "I can still get to him. I know I can. I just have to believe in myself, and in Kai. I _can_ rescue him. You guys won't understand, because you couldn't possibly know Kai as well as we do. He's an antisocial guy by nature, but we all know he considers us as his friends. He's been through so much in his life, I'm not giving up on him! Because he'd…never quit on me."

"Touching, very touching," Hideaki sneered. All attention diverted itself away from the battle and onto him.

"Why is it that Kai remembers you, but none of us?" Ray asked.

"Simple. I designed the machine. I placed my own programme into the machine mainframe to be imbedded into Kai's mind when his memories were gone. He now knows I am his father, but he's convinced he is a soldier for my will. Nice, isn't it?"

"That's pretty sick," Max replied, evidently angered by what Hideaki had said.

"Kai…son…" Hideaki began, turning to Kai. "I want you…to destroy their Beyblades, claim their Bit Beasts and, if you'd like, exterminate them."

"Yes father," came Kai's reply. He was totally under Hideaki's control now. Hideaki was pulling all of Kai's strings. It was hopeless now. They'd lost Kai to the darkness, were they going to lose themselves trying to save him?

__

Your idleness is amusing

I stand ready to fight

I'm here to crush your mind

Crush your spirit

Crush your faith

And all that you hold dear

Will begin to disappear

You cannot claim

That which is lost

And I've been lost all along

SN: Much thanks to Cold Heritage for the idea!! I'm gonna run with it! Stellar job!

By the by, reviewers, if you vote for the sad ending you are ultimately condemning someone to death, more likely than not Kai. Happy ending means no one will die, not Max, not Ray, not Tala, not Kai, nobody. So far, the happy ending is storming ahead. May continue to do so, now that I've put forth this lil piece of info. Who knows. The opening paragraph is from It Doesn't Matter by Alison Strauss and Union Station.

A quick note for Elcy Name: I am really not bothered that your reviews are long. Just shows you appreciate my work. Makes it all worthwhile when I hear how much people appreciate me. That goes for all of ya, you fantastical people you. I've been in and out of depression since I moved to Ireland from England, and it really lifts me up to know my work is liked by so many people. Bless ya all maaaaan!

OK now just review. That's good…yes it's the little button on the left. Click it…now! OK, now! Done it? Good reader…*hands out Chocolate biscuits*


	14. Losing Grip

Fourteen

__

Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow   
No tomorrow   
No tomorrow   
And I find it kind of funny   
I find it kind of sad   
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had   
I find it hard to tell you   
I find it hard to take   
When people run in circles its a very very   
Mad world   
Mad world 

The Beyblades continued to spin around after each other, locked in intense combat. The strain of maintaining their Bit Beasts against Kai's new-found iron will was evident on the faces of the Demolition Boys. It was as if Dranzer had been flooded with a new dark power. Dranzer had become what Tala knew it didn't want to be: exactly like Black Dranzer. It was attacking without mercy, and before long Wyborg had found its way to the wall, and almost shattered into pieces. It was down to Wolborg, Seaborg and Falborg now.

"Feeling lucky Tala?" Kai sneered, a feral flame burning in his eyes. Tala took a step back in surprise. There was more to this than basic human reprogramming. Kai wasn't a cyborg, so he'd obviously need more persuasion to join up with Hideaki without a fight. Tala knew from what he had seen that Kai's memories were as good as gone, and that he'd had new memories put in their place. But the thing was, Tala knew Kai would resist. Kai would put up a fight. Here, it seemed like Kai had just succumbed to his fate without question, and that wasn't like Kai at all.

"Yes I am!" Tala yelled in response. "Go Wolborg! Attack Dranzer!" and so his Beyblade skidded round to take another bash at getting Dranzer down.

"Tala stop this!" Tyson cried out. "Give me just a little while! Only a few minutes! And I can reach Kai!"

"Tyson there's no time to follow a distant hope, not now," Tala replied firmly. "Kai is trying to hurt us, he's trying to take our Bit Beasts from us! I refuse to let him do that! You showed to me how important the bond of friendship is between ourselves and our Bit Beasts, and you're not even fighting to protect that bond! What a coward you've become!"

"I'm _not_ a coward for wanting to save my friend!" Tyson snapped back furiously. "You provide me with the cover I need and I'll try and get through to Kai." Tala sighed. It was no use arguing with Tyson over this now. He was so stubborn. And besides, Tala needed to keep his attention on Wolborg. Tyson clenched his fists and ran out to Kai, grabbing onto Kai's injured arm.

"Go away, you irritating child," Kai growled, shaking Tyson's grip off of his arm. He'd been hit back, but that wasn't the call to surrender. Not for Tyson.

"Kai! Wake up and start seeing what you're doing, dude!" Tyson pleaded. Kai continued to ignore him, keeping his full attention on the battle. Tyson still held his ground. "Kai! It's me, Tyson! I'm not your enemy! You and I are friends! Sure, we've hit a few bumps along the way, what with you being a total minus zero on the personality scale and all, oh and me being a total pain in the neck every other day, but we endured! You abandoned us for the Demolition Boys and Black Dranzer, but we were still there when you needed us when you were about to drown! Don't you remember Lake Baikal?!"

"Shut up!" Kai hissed furiously, hitting Tyson down.

"Tyson!" Max, Kenny and Ray cried, as their friend pulled himself back to his feet, rubbing his sore cheek.

"Close my lid, Kenny! I don't wanna watch this anymore!" Dizzi wailed from the confines of her laptop prison.

"We don't wanna see this anymore than you do Dizzi," Ray replied. "But we have to accept that this is happening. We can't just hide away until its all over. This is Kai we're talking about!"

"Yeah!" Max agreed whole-heartedly. "So let's give our full support to Tyson!" they were all in agreement. They were going to back Tyson up all the way. They couldn't fight Kai, but maybe Tyson could get through to him.

"I'm not fazed, Kai," Tyson replied, and angry expression spreading across Kai's face. His attention was divided between Tyson and the battle, and he hated that. "You didn't mean that."

"You really think I didn't, huh? Want me to do it again?" Kai responded with his usual icy tone.

"Think back, Kai. You have to remember! Lake Baikal was where you realised that you would always be a winner as long as you had us! When we were a team, we never lost Kai! We were always winners! Please, try and remember!"

"Get lost you annoying little moron!!" Kai yelled, but before Kai had a chance to lash out a Tyson again, something happened that no one had come to expect. Tyson hit Kai. Square across the face.

"Get real with yourself Kai, this isn't who you are," Tyson said sternly. There was a look of absolute horror on Kai's face, as he tentatively lifted a hand to his sore face. "Sure, you have a merciless streak, but you'd never stoop down to being your father's lap dog! That isn't your style! You have a lot more class than that! Come on Kai! Remember!" Kai looked at Tyson, noting the stern yet sincere expression across his face, then looked over to the battle. He gently rubbed his left temple with his fingers and tried to remember what this lunatic was raving on about. Slowly yet surely, a picture came into focus in his mind…

~~+*+~~

The freezing icy water was up to his knees. Kai looked down and couldn't see his feet anymore. Where was he? He looked up, where just across from him he could make out black figures, trying to get to him. One had a hand extended right out to him. Who was this shadow? And why was he trying to help him?

'Go away…' Kai muttered. 'Leave me be…' but the shadowed figures didn't go away. He heard faint murmurs coming from them, which grew louder and clearer with every passing minute. They were calling out his name. They were calling out to him. What were they hoping to achieve?

"Just grab my digits, dude!" the shadow with the outstretched hand called out to him in desperation.

"You…you want to help me?" a familiar voice seemed to break the ice in Kai's mind, he turned around, and saw himself. He looked back over to the shadows and they finally seemed to have faces. It was those teenage boys he had been battling against, and the one that had hit him was the one holding out his hand to him.

'What…is all of this?' Kai asked to no one in particular, as it would seem no one could hear him. 'That's…me…but how can it be…I'm right here…'

"After all the horrible things I've done, said to you…" Kai watched on as a shadow of himself spoke with these teenage boys.

"We'll talk later, just grab my hand!" the one with the outstretched arm pleaded, his desperation growing.

'Who…are these people…? Do I know them?' Kai said, looking from the image of himself, to the images of these teenage boys. More conversation went on between them all, before Kai noticed his image start to crack.

"You guys…I'm so sorry," Kai's image said, wincing his eyes shut as tears started to drain out of them, before reaching out and grabbing the boy's outstretched hand. Kai watched on as the boys pulled his image out of the water.

'They…saved me…but why? I don't know who they are…' Kai was still stood in the water, watching on as if he had somehow been astral projected from his own body. It was like watching a home movie or something. Things were supposed to ring a bell with him, yet they weren't. He watched on as his image walked away to a helicopter and boarded it, taking off and leaving his rescuers behind.

'So familiar…' a smile crept onto Kai's face. 'I feel like…I know them well…and a part of me has a bond with them…' as soon as the helicopter was out of sight, Kai felt himself start to sink. He looked down as the water surface crept up his body. He was in a panic. What now?

"Don't worry Kai! We've got you!" a hand reached out and grabbed his tightly. About three other hands also grabbed his. Kai looked up. It was the same teenagers that had saved that image of him. The boy that had spoken was the one that had hit him.

'Who are you?' Kai asked. The blue-haired boy smiled.

"We're the Bladebreakers Kai! We're your friends!"

'My…friends…?'

"That's right Kai! It's me, Tyson! And these are Max, Ray and Kenny. Do you remember?"

'I…' Kai paused and scanned their faces. Suddenly, something seemed incredibly familiar about them. 'Tyson? Max? Ray? Kenny? I know you…'

"We know you do Kai!" the one Tyson had pointed out as Max smiled warmly at him. "We're here to pull you out, because that's what friends are for. We'll always be around for you Kai."

'Always there for me…'

~~+*+~~

"Kai!!" Hideaki's booming voice snapped Kai out of an apparent daydream. None of what he had seen was real. It was all a trick of his mind. Or was it? A part of that daydream seemed too familiar to be discarded right away. "Kai get back to the battle!!" Kai shook his head lightly, and reaffixed his attention on the battle. Tyson wasn't quitting. He knew he'd hit home with Kai at last, well he'd definitely hit something if he'd made Kai zone out for five minutes.

"Don't listen to him Kai!" Tyson yelled. Kai looked over at him. "He's a liar and a murderer!! He killed your mother Kai!! Don't let him kill you too!!"

"My…mother…?" Kai asked slowly. His mother…who was she? He could barely remember her. And, much like last time, he felt himself slip away into another daydream…

~~+*+~~

"You useless bitch!!" a loud familiar voice boomed, as Kai turned to see a familiar man hit the woman that stood between him and a young child. The woman fell to the floor. The boy ran to her side, crying.

"Mama get up!" he cried, shaking her gently. She raised herself up onto her elbows and looked into the boy's tear-filled garnet eyes.

'I know that woman…' Kai said, looking down at her and the boy. 'And I know him too…is he…me?'

"Kai listen to me very carefully," the woman scooped her son into her arms and held him close. "You have to get out of here. Run away Kai. Run as fast as you can."

"No mama I won't leave you!!" the young Kai cried. The heavy hand of the man that had struck the woman down fell on her shoulder and pulled her away from Kai.

"Just run Kai!! Run away!!" she cried, holding her ground against the man as he hit her several times more. The young Kai refused to leave her, and ran at the man, tugging at him viciously.

"Papa stop!! Stop hurting her you'll kill her!!" young Kai cried angrily.

'Papa…?' Kai asked. Was that man his father? If that man was his father, and that woman was his mother, why was he hurting her? His father grabbed the young Kai by the throat, as the young boy struggled for air.

"That's the idea you little brat!! Don't you go running off, cos once your mama is dead you'll be next!!" his father boomed, throwing Kai against a wall. His father's face was so familiar. Who was he? He'd seen him before…

'Hideaki!' Kai cried out, looking over as his father resumed beating his mother. He watched as the young Kai got back up to his feet and tried twice more to help out his mother, but to no avail. He then watched as his father grabbed a hammer. 'Oh no…oh please no…' Kai cried out in horror.

"No!! Mama!!!!" young Kai screamed out as his father hit his mother down with the hammer four times.

"Kai…my beautiful Kai…run away…" his mother said, her voice sounded agonised. Another lethal blow was dealt, but this time she did not get back up. Kai watched on in painful disbelief as his younger self ran over to the battered and bleeding body of his mother.

"Mama!!!! Mama get up!!! Get up you've got to get away with me!!" the young Kai began to sob, snuggling his face into his mother's blood stained cardigan. "I'm not going without you!!" tears began to stream down Kai's face as he watched this painful scene.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" a familiar voice interjected. Kai looked over to see Tyson enter the room. "You must have loved her so much…"

'She…was trying to protect me…' Kai said, not caring that he was crying.

"Any mother would want to protect her son," Tyson replied, looking down as the young Kai was pulled away from his mother by his father and her body was dragged away. The young Kai was left on the kitchen floor, curled up in a small ball, crying. "That man barking orders to you did this to her. Are you going to let him get away with doing it to you too?"

'No…' a moment of angered realisation dawned on Kai. He wasn't going to let this tyrant take control and kill him the way he'd killed his mother. She'd tried to protect him. No more. No more.

~~+*+~~

"Kai!!!!" Hideaki yelled once again. "Get back to the battle!!!" Kai's head was hung low, and Tyson could see tiny crystalline tears falling down Kai's pain torn face.

"No…" Kai muttered. He looked up at Hideaki, through his tears the frustration could evidently be seen. "No. No!! NO!!!!!!"

__

Set your mind and soul free

My little one

And always keep in your heart

That you will never be alone here

And we shall never be apart

I trust and love you

My little one

And you must never forget

That our love is an eternal bond

One he cannot wreck

SN: That's it for this part, my friends. The little squiggly things here and there show a jump into Kai's subconscious for a look at his memories as he attempts to remember them. The single speech marks are Kai speaking within his own mind, and the regular speech marks are the people in his memories acting out their role, or those there to guide him. So Kai is watching certain lost memories re-enact themselves in his mind. It's all confusing, but you'll understand it eventually. Just have to read it about 15 times…oh well…

The opening paragraph I got from Mad World, the Tears For Fears song, but I got these lyrics from the Gary Jules cover. Was Christmas no 1 in the UK. Totally beat The Darkness. Why?! Their song was just funny!! Remember all, keep voting if you want your ending or it won't happen…and a note for all to remember: there will be no yaoi, no lemon, no lime, no nothing of that sort in this story. It's gonna be clean OK? 

Review review review review review review review review!!! Oh do you know how many red squiggly lines I just had to get rid of? GAH!!! 


	15. Bada Bing Bada Boom

Fifteen

__

Please come now I think I'm falling

I'm holding on to all I think is safe

It seems I found the road to nowhere

And I'm trying to escape

I yelled back when I heard thunder

But I'm down to one last breath

And with it let me stay

Let me stay

"What did you say?!" Hideaki asked, furious. Kai's solid icy gaze was fixed firmly on his father. He looked beyond angry at this point.

"I said no! Got a problem with that?" Kai replied nastily, his teeth gritted.

"Don't you _dare_ try to violate my authority Kai! I am your father--"

"My father?! You are _no_ father to me!! I know what you did to my mother!! And what you're trying to do to me!!"

"But how…how is that possible?!!"

"You can't make him forget her Hideaki," Tyson interjected. Hideaki scowled at Tyson. "He won't forget her, and he won't forget us. He knows us, and I know he trusts us. Right Kai?" Kai looked at Tyson for a few moments, then over to Ray, Max and Kenny. He did know them. He knew their names, he could vaguely recall their battles together; as opponents and as a team. These people, these Bladebreakers, would appear to be his friends.

"Yes…" Kai replied slowly. Tyson smiled, and that smiled seemed to reassure Kai. He felt a lot more stable knowing he wasn't alone anymore. Hideaki was fuming at this point, and had made his way over to a panel on a wall. He was randomly hitting buttons on the panel, and this seemed to make Kai react rather unnaturally.

"Kai?!! Kai are you OK?!!" Tyson cried out, as Kai sank to his knees and began screaming, his hands on either side of his head. He looked like he was in writhing agony.

"NO!!! NO I WON'T!!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!" Kai screamed, shaking his head violently. "GET OUT!!!!! GET OUT!! GET OUT!!!!" Kai was now a crumpled mess on the floor, shaking and screaming like he was being killed from the inside out. Thinking on it, Tyson wondered if maybe Kai was. Tyson looked over to Hideaki, whose expression had brightened somewhat. Hideaki was controlling Kai with that panel and the machine attached to Kai's head and face.

"Guys!!" Tyson called over to his friends. "Kai is being controlled!! We've got to shut the machine down!!"

"But Tyson! Hideaki said it can't be shut down!" Ray replied, noting a very important factor Tyson had forgotten.

"PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!! GET OUT!!! I DON'T WANT YOU!!!" Kai screamed furiously, though his anger was slowly diminishing to more of a piteous scream. He was hurting, and Kai knew that there was one way to take all the pain away.

Remove the machine.

Kai placed his fingers over the components that covered the left-hand side of his face, and at first tugged on it gently. Realising that it was indeed grafted there, Kai saw no other alternative than to just tear it off in one go. He slowly counted to three, then a stomach wrenching tear rung out through the large warehouse size room. Kai screamed out in agony as the metal and glass component came free from his face into his hand. Max covered his mouth with his hands. He felt very sick.

"Kai…" Tyson said slowly, taking in the full extent of what Kai had just done. Blood was tearing down Kai's pain-ridden face in full force, and it was getting everywhere. He was sweaty and tired, but he mustered all of his strength to remove the remaining components and the needle in the back of his head. Once the main components were gone, Hideaki had lost control over Kai's mind. Kai lay on his side on the floor, gasping for air, not noticing the IV tubing attached to his arm, that had linked in to the mainframe of the machine he had worn.

"No…" Kai muttered. "I'm…past this…I don't need…your stupid…fucking medicine…anymore…" and with that Kai ripped the IV tube from his arm, and now his body was totally paralysed with pain, he hardly felt it.

"Kai!!!!" Tyson cried, running to his friend's side. Kai's consciousness was starting to waver. If he closed his eyes now, he would evidently die. "Kai, stay with me!! Don't die on me yet!!"

"I'm…so tired…" Kai said weakly. By now, Dranzer had stopped spinning and had returned to Kai's hand. Now the Demolition Boys were working on keeping Hideaki at bay, seeing as during the first skirmish it would have seemed that Hideaki's army had been evacuated.

"I know you're tired, I know you're real tired, but you have to stay awake for me now OK Kai? You promise?" Tyson said, stinging tears falling down his cold cheeks. He clasped Kai's bloodied hand, yet relinquished his grip when he saw Kai grimace. He was hurt. Maybe too badly now to be saved.

"I can't…I can't…I just…want to die…" Kai muttered, all concerns of the exposure of weakness and frailty had left his mind totally. He just wanted it all to end. He wanted to see a light at the end of this black tunnel of nightmares, and now to Kai it seemed as if death was his only light.

"Kai listen to me!! We're here to help you!! You're going to be fine!! Just hang with us for a little while longer, and you can go to sleep then! Once a doctor has seen you, you can sleep for as long as you want! We'll train, we'll run laps, we'll go mountain climbing., we'll camp out in igloos!! Anything to keep you from sleeping now. Don't you understand yet Kai? We're your friends!! Don't let this be the end of your life yet, you've hardly lived it! Just fight! Fight for a little while longer…resist it Kai!!"

"What's with…all the sentimental crap…?" Kai asked, adding a dry laugh to the end of his question. Tyson laughed too, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I never knew you cared…"

"Oh, funny Kai," Tyson laughed softly, wiping the last remnants of his salted tears from his face. "You're the strong one remember?"

"I remember," Kai smiled.

"Tyson!!" Ray called over to Tyson. "We should get Kai and go now!"

"Yeah I know," Tyson replied, pulling one of Kai's arms over his shoulders. "Hey Tala," Tyson focused his attention over to Tala. "Can you handle him?"

"No problem," Tala smiled, keeping Hideaki up against the wall. "You get Kai to a hospital." Hideaki didn't look happy to see his carefully set out plan falling to ruin, and as far as he was concerned, the fat lady hadn't sung yet, so it wasn't all over for Kai and the Bladebreakers. Not by a mile.

"You think I'm going to let you just run out with _my_ son?!" Hideaki fumed. "Well, think again Tyson!" and with those words, Hideaki smashed in a small door hidden in the wall, and a low blipping noise started to echo through the room. Max ran over to Tyson and pulled Kai's other arm over his shoulders, to share some of the burden with Tyson. Kenny had Dizzi examining the source of the strange blipping noise.

"Uh oh…" Kenny gulped nervously.

"What is it Chief?" Ray asked, walking to Kenny's side.

"I have a suggestion here boys: I suggest we run for the hills!!" Dizzi yelled.

"The machine that was attached to Kai was also, it would seem, rigged with an explosive device. We have a minute to get out of here before this whole underground warehouse comes down on us!!!" Kenny exclaimed in horror.

"You're kidding!!" Tala cried, overhearing what Kenny was saying, and making the fatal error of removing his attention from Hideaki. "We have to go!! Now!!!" and so Tala made for the fire exit, followed by Ray, Spencer and Ian.

"Tala!!! Hideaki escaped!!!" Bryan called over to his leader.

"Never mind that now!! We just have to get out of here with our lives!!" Tala ordered. Bryan acknowledged this, and ran to join his team. "Tyson!! We have to move! Now!!"

"In case you forgot Tala, I have a wounded person here!!" Tyson replied, sounding a bit annoyed that he was being rushed.

"Leave me here Tyson," Kai said. Tyson looked at him in astonishment. "I'm nothing but a burden."

"Hey, ever heard the term the captain goes down with his ship?" Tyson grinned. "You've helped keep us afloat enough times Kai, now it time we returned the favour. We're your ship here Kai, when we go down, so do you, and we're not going down just yet." the blips grew louder and louder as Tyson and Max picked up their speed. Everyone was ushering them to hurry up.

"Ten seconds!!" Kenny yelled out to Tyson and Max, who were still some distance from the escape door.

"Tyson, Max move it!!" Ray yelled, extending his hand out to them.

"Five, four, three, two, one!" Kenny called out in panic. As soon as the counter hit zero the whole room filled with a bright light…

From the centre of Moscow a large burst of power and light could be seen. An explosion of seemingly immense proportions had gone off in the suburbs, and many Russians stopped dead in their tracks as a huge plume of fire and smoke went up into the air. It burnt there for many minutes before the familiar sound of fire engine sirens interjected the melodic undertones of destruction.

~~***~~

"And in other news , the European stock market has fallen into yet another slump, its lowest in the past three weeks," the news reader calmly read out what was written in front of him, before shuffling the papers around and handing the report over to the Weather Forecaster.

"This is dull!!" Mariah whined, turning the television over to another channel. "Europe is a nice place and all, but the TV is totally whacked!!"

"You'd think with Enrique's house as big as it is he'd invest in some better television channels," Li smiled at his White Tiger team mate. Enrique entered the room, followed by one of the butlers of his estate he was carrying a tray of tea and cakes. The butler set the tray down on a small neatly dressed table, and set the correct amount of chairs around it.

"Won't Oliver, Robert or Johnny be joining us?" Mariah asked.

"No I'm afraid not, they have some business to attend to," Enrique replied with a warm smile.

"Oh well! All the more for us!" Kenneth cried out with joy, running for a seat. He was soon joined by Gary, then the remaining White Tigers. Enrique settled himself into his usual chair and sipped at his tea.

"So, how do you all find Europe thus far?" he asked.

"Oh it's lovely," Mariah commented brightly.

"Yes, it's definitely a place where we can acquire a lot of new skills," Li concurred with his friend. Gary and Kenneth were too busy enjoying the refreshments to comment.

"Any news from Ray about how he and the Bladebreakers are?" Enrique asked yet another general question.

"No…we've had nothing…" Mariah replied sadly. "I'm concerned. With Kai in the state that he's in, anything could have happened to them!"

"I know how you feel Mariah, and I worry about Ray too, but we have to trust that they're OK. I'm sure they would have informed us if there were any serial problems," Li turned to Mariah, trying to ease her concerns.

"You present a good point Li," Enrique commented. "But I have to agree with Mariah. It is worrying, with Kai being in the fragile state he's in. I would have thought that you would have heard something from them by now."

"Aw darn!" Kenneth cried out, looking over at the television. "Another newsreel! Mariah turn it over!"

"Hang on there, dude," Enrique said, holding a hand out to Mariah as if to stop her.

"News just in from Moscow. An explosion has just gone off in the suburbs of the city. The explosion appears to have originated in an underground base below the presumed abandoned Baikov Abbey. Once a training ground for Biovolt students, all assumptions police had that the building was abandoned after the capture of Voltaire earlier in the year have now been quashed. We now link up live to our reporter outside of Baikov Abbey," the reporter had caught the attention of all in the room. This had to be bad.

"Here I am outside Baikov Abbey, in the suburbs of Moscow," the on-site reporter began. "It is here where onlookers say that the blast originated, and from the looks of things, they are correct. Ambulance and fire crews are on the scene now, in case of casualties, and police are beginning to launch a full investigation into the cause of the blast."

"Baikov Abbey? That rings too many bells…" Enrique mused whilst sipping his tea. "Isn't that the Biovolt base?"

"They just said that, idiot," Mariah hissed, trying to listen to the whole report. Her concerns about Ray were now heightened.

"News has just reached me that a large group of about nine teenagers have been recovered from the wreckage of the underground base," the reporter continued, moving swiftly over to where the ambulance crews were situated. It took the White Tiger's breath away when they saw the people who had been recovered from the rubble.

"Ray!!!" Mariah cried in horror.

"It would appear that these boys are the Beyblade team known as the Bladebreakers, and the others recovered are the Russian Demolition Boys team. Both teams had recently battled in the World Beyblading Tournament," the reporter resumed, making sure the camera got clear shots of everyone as they were brought onto the ambulance. First was Ray, then Spencer, then Bryan, then Kenny, then Tala. They didn't seem to be too badly injured, but you could never be sure. Then Tyson was brought onto an ambulance.

"Tyson!!" Enrique cried out. "Man he looks terrible…" indeed Tyson did. He had cuts, burns and bruises all over his body. As did Max, who was next to be brought on, embarked onto the same ambulance as Tyson. But they were nothing compared to the state of Kai.

"Oh dear god!" the reporter exclaimed. Several seconds later, the camera caught a glimpse of Kai's condition. He was covered in blood, large tears in his skin and muscle were everywhere, and he was burnt and broken. Kai was rushed off into a different ambulance, and it sped away from the scene as fast as possible.

"Start packing your things, guys," Mariah said, getting to her feet. "We're going back to Russia."

__

There are some scars

That fade with time

And there are some scars

That never die

Though physical pain

You can easily hide

Mental pain

You can't deny

So look inside yourself

And tell me all you know

For I can see myself dying

And now I have nowhere to go

SN: A bit long, a bit short, who knows. The opening paragraph is One Last Breath by Creed. The lyrics were suggested to me by my dear friend Maeris. Thank you very much for that ^^. If you know of any songs with lyrics that would suit this story, tell me the song and artist in your review and I'll look it up. Any contributions that could help with plot progression are welcome!

I have a list, a pretty big list, of my devoted following (bless you all ^_^) and you shall all receive your much deserved thanks by the end of this, especially those that have inspired me. Yup yup. ^^ And hooray to DragonBlade for putting up the first review for part 14, within minutes of me loading it! And man, you read my mind with the whole boom thing yeah? Heheheheheh…

Review my dears! Just click it! And keep voting for your ending! It's all starting to tie up, so I may have to get extra help with this ending cos its getting a bit evenly matched. Review and I'll try and send you all biscuits. No guarantees on that though…


	16. Welcome To My Dementia

Sixteen

__

I've  
Become so numb  
I can't feel you there  
Become so tired  
So much more aware  
I'm becoming this  
All I want to do  
Is be more like me  
And be less like you

The plane from Rome to Moscow had only touched down but a mere ten minutes ago and already Mariah was storming around trying to retrieve her baggage in the quickest possible way. Ray was hurt. Badly perhaps. But she knew for sure, deep inside her, that Kai was going to die. Whether it be of a drug overdose, internal bleeding, heavily sustained injuries or whatever. Kai wasn't going to last out the rest of the month. He had already lasted a month too long, thanks to medical science.

Just over a month had passed since the accident at The Abbey. Flights into Russia had been put off for weeks due to terrible stormy conditions and a terrorist threat, no doubt emanating from Hideaki himself. They had gotten on the first plane that had been airborne from Rome, but it had been all too long for Mariah to wait.

Luckily for the airport crew, and they should count themselves lucky considering Mariah's foul mood, the White Tigers luggage was loaded off first, followed closely by the Majestics'. Oliver, Johnny and Robert had swiftly turned themselves away from their business ventures upon hearing of the accident, and had joined Enrique and the White Tigers on the quickest flight out of Rome. They sped through the customs check-in, mainly due to Mariah's iron will and ability to strike fear into those who cross her, and were soon on board a bus headed for Moscow's central hospital. Mariah hadn't been there since Ray's incident with Bryan. She prayed he was going to be OK.

The trip went by in silence, everyone too afraid to speak, in fear of the state of their friends. The journey seemed to drag out like it was taking an eternity, but it only took half an hour. They grabbed their luggage hurriedly from the luggage racks and threw themselves out of the bus doors and onto the sidewalk. In from of them was Moscow's central hospital. Wasting no time at all, Mariah ran in, her luggage trailing behind her.

"Mariah wait!" Li called after her, but in vain. Mariah ran up to one of the nurses on the reception desk, out of breath.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where Ray Kon is?" she asked, her voice sounding pleading and urgent. "My name is Mariah, I'm a good friend of his."

"Oh yes, of course," the nurse smiled pleasantly. "Ray was put onto one of the wards with his other friends. I thought it better to try and keep them all together, so they'll have familiar faces around them, so I put them all on one of our larger wards. Please, follow me." and so Mariah was led along countless corridors and through countless doors, until they came to Ward 13. Oh great. "Just through here." the nurse pointed to one of the open wards, where six occupied beds were set. Mariah dropped her heavy suitcase at the door and, clasping the bunch of flowers she had bought for Ray at the airport, ran into the ward room. Lo and behold, Ray, Kenny, Tala, Spencer, Ian and Bryan were all found to be there, with no sign of Tyson, Max, or Kai for that matter.

"Mariah?!" Ray called out in utter surprise. Kenny was in the bed to his left and Tala was in the bed to his right, Bryan was opposite Ray, Spencer was opposite Tala and Ian was opposite Kenny. "Mariah what are you doing here?!"

"What do you mean what am I doing here?! I saw you all on the news and I came over as soon as the weather permitted!" Mariah cried out, throwing her arms around Ray's neck, and hitting him accidentally with the flowers as she did so.

"Mariah the accident wasn't that bad," Ray sighed, smiling at her and graciously accepting her gift. "Well, not for us it wasn't. Tyson and Max bore the main brunt of the blast, so did Kai. But his body was already wracked with injury."

"I know, I saw," Mariah's voice faded away. "He…he may die you know Ray."

"What?!" Ray hissed, trying not to sound as angry as he felt, but failing. "Kai isn't going to die!! He's gonna be OK Mariah!"

"But Ray he's so badly injured!"

"That's no excuse to give up on him!!"

"Ray I know he's your friend, but he's dying. I know he is. One way or another Kai is going to die, and its going to be sooner rather than later. He's only human. He can only take so much punishment before he gives up."

"Kai won't give up!!…He…he can't give up! I-I-I won't let him!"

"Ray listen to me! Think of what's best for Kai rather than for yourself! He's in pain, he's hurting, both physically and mentally. Don't you think he deserves to be in a better place now?" there was a deadly silence in the room. No one dared to speak. Ray knew Mariah had a point, he just didn't want to accept that this was all Kai had left.

"Mariah has a point Ray," Kenny agreed quietly. "Kai has endured too much now. If it comes down to a choice between ending his suffering or prolonging it, I'd choose to end it."

"I know…but…" Ray began, but he was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the remaining White Tigers and the Majestics.

"How are you Ray?" Li asked smiling. He seemed out of breath, but that was because Mariah was difficult to keep up with once she was motivated.

"I'm fine," Ray replied monotonously. "You should go and find Tyson, Max and Kai. They're off down the hall." downtrodden, Mariah backed away from the obviously upset Ray and followed her team and the Majestics down the hallway until they got to a door marked 'Granger - T + Tate - M'. They knocked gently, then opened the door with care, Robert braving the odds and peering around the door. He walked into the room, and noticed that both Max and Tyson were conscious. He was happy to see that at least.

"How are you both feeling?" Robert asked, smiling down at them. They were both bandaged up quite a bit and had IV tubing in their arms.

"I guess we look as bad as we feel," Max replied with a weak smile on his face. "But…where's Kai…?"

"We don't know yet," Enrique interjected, just as Robert was about to respond. "But we'll find him, don't worry."

"Kai…" Tyson let his sentence trail off as he looked away into emptiness. Kai was a lot worse off than they were, he knew that much.

"Am I disturbing you?" a nurse popped her head around the door.

"No, not at all," Oliver replied.

"I have some news on your friend…er, Kai Hiwatari?" the nurse looked down at her clipboard. Tyson and Max sat up quickly.

"Is he alright?!" Tyson asked.

"Will he be OK?!" Max asked.

"Settle down boys!" the nurse smiled. "Kai came out of emergency surgery a few hours ago, and he's recovering in the room a few doors down. His state is better than it was when he first came in, but his improvement is minimal. His injuries aren't healing very quickly, and his blood is very heavily intoxicated."

"The heroin…" Tyson growled furiously. As he'd expected, Hideaki had kept Kai up-to-date with his heroin intake. Tyson got to his feet, using the metal stand onto which his IV tubing was attached to keep his balance. "I'm going to see Kai. I need to know that he's OK."

"Wait up! I'll come with you!" Max cried, also getting to his feet and taking off after Tyson. Carrying around a large stand with an IV tube and a drip pouch attached was no easy task, and Tyson and Max found this out the hard way. They finally got to a door marked 'Hiwatari - K', but there were several other notes on the door. Tyson took a few minutes to examine them.

"Hmmm…it's just a load of stuff telling us about Kai's status, I think," Tyson checked over the piece of paper attached to the door. It was obviously for the doctors. Tyson chose not to knock and just opened the door quietly. He walked into the room cautiously, and couldn't believe his eyes when he walked in. Kai looked dead. It appeared to Tyson that the only thing keeping Kai alive was the life support machine. Kai was unconscious, and the only noise in the room was the loud blipping from the life support machine. There were needles and tubes all over his body, and he appeared to be hooked up to a respirator as well. He couldn't breathe on his own, and his heart couldn't beat on its own. This was just great.

"Is Kai…dead?" Max asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"I don't think so," Tyson replied, trying to hold back the bitter stinging pain in his eyes. "He's just…having a hard time. That's it."

"Looks like a pretty hard time indeed," Robert added, as the rest of the Majestics seemed stunned into silence, as were the White Tigers, who were still slightly upset from their brief talk with Ray. Tyson looked down at Kai, and noticed a slight anguished expression wash over his once placid face. He had to be having some kind of nightmare.

~~+*+~~

Kai was stood alone on a beach. It was mid afternoon, and the warm sun beat down on him. Not a single zephyr seemed to disturb the warm afternoon, but the delighted cry of a young child broke Kai's daze. He turned and looked up the beach, and saw a young boy, no older than four, making sandcastles with his mother.

'Oh please…please not here…' Kai said, his heart starting to race. He remembered this holiday. It was the last one they had as a family before his mother was killed. His father was nowhere in sight, but he knew he'd be along any moment.

"Look mama! Look I made two!" the young Kai smiled, looking down at his two sandcastles proudly. His mother smiled sweetly at him and handed him a few small shells.

"You can put them on your sandcastles, and they'll look very nice," she said, her smile made him feel safe and happy, even with the father that he had.

'Why…why must I see this again?!!' Kai screamed out to the sky. 'I've suffered enough, you bastards!! Leave me alone!!'

"Aoi!" a loud familiar voice boomed from further up. It was Hideaki. He was making his way over to the pair, and his mother put an arm around the young Kai. She was worried.

"Mama, why is papa so mad?" little Kai asked, looking up at his mother, unable to understand why his father was so mean.

"I don't know, sweetheart," she replied, getting slowly to her feet.

"What are you doing down here?!" Hideaki growled furiously.

"I'm playing with Kai," she replied firmly.

"Aoi, you are not here to play stupid games with that little boy! He has to learn he can only rely on himself, and that his mother won't always be there to pick him up when he falls!"

"Hideaki, he's only four years old! At this age, all children need their mothers!"

"No son of _mine_ shall be weak enough to rely on his mother for comfort!"

"Oh, so he _is_ your son now, is he?!"

"Don't speak to me like that!! You have no right!"

"You treat him like a rat Hideaki! He's your child! Your only son! Just because you got a hard time from Voltaire in your youth doesn't mean you should impart his tactics onto Kai!"

"My father is a great man! He taught me I could only rely on myself, and that friendship and love were a waste of time! He was right!"

"So you don't love me _or_ Kai then?!"

"I could _never_ love that little rat!" a small, hurt cry emanated from the young Kai. He heard what his father had said, and he understood it too. He was hurt by it, as he loved his father very much.

'So stupid…' Kai mumbled, as Hideaki grabbed onto his younger self and began to shake him violently.

"You worthless little brat! How dare you show weakness before me!!" Hideaki yelled furiously.

"Hideaki!! Hideaki get off of him!!" Kai's mother screamed, trying to pull her husband away from her infant son, but to no avail. Hideaki was strong, too strong for her to take on.

'How could I be…so stupid…?' Kai muttered, watching as the painful scene unfolded. 'This was where it all began…I learnt from here, slowly, that emotions only get people hurt. It was love that killed my mother. She loved me, and she died because of it. I should have just given up when he tried to drown me…' Kai looked on as hid father dragged his younger form down the beach to the sea. Kai knew all too well what was about to happen. At that age, Kai couldn't swim very well, and he definitely didn't know that you couldn't breathe underwater. Kai was just an onlooker, as a horrible nightmare from his troubled past came back to haunt him. He watched himself almost drown at the hands of his own father, while his mother fought on and pleaded for her young son's life. Kai would have died if it hadn't have been for the coastguards. Naturally, Hideaki weaved an excellent cover-up story, so that he could never be arrested for attempting to kill his own child.

"Would you like to see another one?" suddenly, the figure of Hideaki turned away from the chaos by the sea and walked up the beach towards Kai.

'Go away! Go away!' Kai yelled back, backing away quickly.

"I'm always going to be here to haunt you Kai, you'll never get rid of me," Hideaki sneered. "Face it Kai, you were born to die, and to die by my hand. You'll either suffer at the hands of the heroin, or these nightmares will drive you to dementia…"

'I…I won't go crazy!! I won't!! No!! No!!' Kai cried out, finding himself to be desperate for a way out. He didn't realise it was all too late. He was going mad. With every passing moment a piece of his sanity was being chipped away, and he was starting to run on low.

~~+*+~~

Kai woke up to find himself alone. By now Tyson and Max had been ushered back to their beds, and the White Tigers and the Majestics had gone to check in to their hotel. His breathing was heavy, and the only sound in the room was the life support machine, continuously blipping in time with Kai's struggling heart beats. A small laugh seemed to escape from Kai's lips, and soon it grew louder, then it seemed to take on a menacing tone.

"It's all over," Kai smiled darkly. "There's nothing left to live for Kai. He's taken your mind, your soul is lost to the darkness, you can't break free from his grasp now. You may as well just surrender what little of you remains and let it end." Kai looked up at the ceiling. "No team can save you now. No friends can pull you up from the darkness in which you're drowning. You've gone insane now Kai…you've lost your mind…" he looked over to a small table that was in the room and noticed a bottle of pills resting there. They were morphine. A nurse had left them in there by mistake, awaiting Kai's recovery. They had planned on dosing him up on that to keep him alive. But little did they know…

"Heroin and morphine are very similar…you know you need them Kai…you know you want them…" and with those words, Kai got to his feet and took up the bottle, ignorant of the many tubes that threatened to stop him. He looked into the bottle and saw about 20 pills in there. "Take them…all of them…end your suffering now…whoever carelessly left these here wanted you to die…I promise I'll go away as soon as you accept your fate…" without hesitation, Kai consumed the entire contents of the bottle, then threw the bottle across the room, allowing it to smash against a wall. He walked over to the smashed shards of glass and took them up in his hand.

"One more game before I go," Kai sneered, clasping the sharp brown shards in his palm, and allowing the blood to run down his arm. That was his release. The rush he received from crushing glass into his palm equalled the rush he had received from the morphine. They all assumed he was doomed to die, that he was making no progress. It was true. The Kai everyone knew and remembered was gone. He was lying deep within himself, slowly dying. This new side of Kai was what he was meant to be, and what he had become. He then threw the shards aside and collapsed back into bed, as the morphine began to take its deadly overdosed effect…

__

Your mind is dead

It was buried long ago

Your soul is dead

Long decayed in the seas of time

And now I see

All else of you is dying

So I have no hope for you

I go to a funeral

A funeral for a fallen hero

Wait until you see

That its yours

SN: Oh yeah, Kai has lost his mind. It looks like he's been possessed, and technically he has been. By possessed I mean he's been taken over by the shadows of his past, and with his soul lost in darkness, things don't look good for him. The opening paragraph is from Numb by Linkin Park. Oh, and Reiven, I looked at the end of your review. You been watching too much Pirates of the Caribbean? Gawd, I love that movie ^^

Please review for me. Because of input and ideas I get from reviews, this story is going to be a few chapters longer than intended. If you have any help or ideas of how you'd like the story to progress, leave your ideas in your review, and I'll see what I can do. Till next time!


	17. Learning To Do What's Hard

Seventeen

__

Fuel emotions, killing me  
Pure devotion, cut and bleed,  
You're the crystal, the ecstasy,  
The drug that keeps feeding me.  
So come on.  
  
Torn together we sow the seed,  
Bring the pleasure back for free,  
The world is frozen but   
I can taste new life every time I breathe

Another blood red morning awoke the hospital-ridden Bladebreakers. With the Demolition Boys and Ray and Kenny well on the way to recovery, they were due for dismissal that afternoon, after spending a lot longer than expected in the hospital to start with. It was because they refused to leave without Tyson, Max and Kai, but seeing as leaving with Kai was no longer an option, they just had to settle for Max and Tyson, who were being brought off of the drips today and being dismissed also. They just had to rest, but at least this meant they could be around Kai more often. Ray, Kenny and the Demolition Boys were already out of their beds and back on their feet, and out of sheer anger over what Mariah had said the day before, Ray had torn at most of the flowers she had given him. He had needed the opportunity to vent his frustration.

"Shall we go and see Tyson and Max now?" Kenny suggested. Tala nodded.

"The quicker we get out of this place the better. I know The Abbey is a scary place, but I was never really all for hospitals either," Tala replied. They all walked out of the room and down the corridor to Max and Tyson's room. There was a not on the door, stating that the pair were due for dismissal this afternoon. Considering it was only 9am, they were going to have a long wait.

"You guys up yet?" Ray smiled, opening the door without knocking. Indeed Max was up, but as for Tyson…

"He's been snoring so loudly!" Max hissed, almost laughing as he did so. "He didn't sleep too good last night, which was strange for Tyson. I think he's concerned about Kai, and that he won't be leaving with us today."

"Kai isn't ready to leave yet, he's still very weak," Ray said, a tinge of concern creeping into his voice. Suddenly Tyson's snoring stopped, and he appeared to be in the middle of a nightmare. His expression seemed pained, and he sounded distraught, muttering incoherencies under his breath.

"Tyson?" Max called over to his sleeping friend softly, but there was no response…

~~*+*~~

Tyson was stood inside a church. He could hear the rain falling heavily on the tiled roof above him. It was a dismal day. Tyson looked up the aisle and saw Max, Ray and Kenny coming down towards him.

'Hey guys! What's up? You look so down…' Tyson trailed off his sentence when they seemed to walk right through him. Was this a bad dream? They looked upset. 'Oh lord…I'm not dead am I?' Tyson nervously made his way up the aisle, his footsteps echoing through the vast church. At the very top, near the pulpit, was a coffin. 'That's it. I'm dead.' but as Tyson continued his approach, he caught a glimpse of two-tone slate coloured hair, and a pale tattooed face.

'Oh my god…' Tyson gasped, clamping a hand over his mouth. 'Kai!'

"They say he committed suicide," Tyson heard a priest tell a local what had happened to Kai. "The nurses found him overdosed on morphine in his room and they couldn't revive him."

"That is such a shame," the woman sighed. "Young teenage men like him shouldn't be killing themselves. He'd barely lived his life, why did he feel the need to end it?"

"From what I've heard, life dealt him a rough hand. Apparently his father abused his mother, and is the prime suspect for this case."

"You mean it may be murder?!"

"Maybe. But all the evidence points to suicide: the missing tablets, the smashed glass, the glass remnants found in the cuts on Kai's hands…"

'Why…' Tyson turned away from this conversation and back to the body of his dead friend. 'Why would I dream of Kai killing himself? Is this a dream? It feels too real to be.' cold tears tore down Tyson's face.

"Isn't it sad Tyson?" a familiar voice interjected. Tyson turned to see Hideaki behind him. "Poor Kai…"

'You…you bastard…you killed him didn't you?!' Tyson fumed.

"I didn't get close enough. I must admire his ability to take matters into his own hands though. He saw he had nothing left to live on for, so he terminated his pathetic excuse for an existence. His life energy was drained out from my machine, and my Bit Beast army is now ready to attack!"

'Kai _did_ have something left to live for! Us!'

"He obviously didn't see things that way."

'I _know_ Kai respects us. He may not show it, but he does. He appreciates us, and he'd never kill himself!'

"Well, wake up then."

~~*+*~~

"Kai!!" Tyson yelled out as he bolted upright. He was well and truly awake now. It _had_ all been a bad dream.

"Whoa, Tyson, you OK?" Max asked in a concerned manner.

"Was Kai in your dream?" Ray asked.

"We got concerned when the snoring stopped," Kenny added, trying to lighten the mood.

"Kai was there…" Tyson replied, rubbing his forehead. "He was dead. We were at his funeral. He killed himself. Hideaki showed up. He started trying to tell me Kai doesn't care about us…"

"You know that's not true!" Max interjected. "Besides, it's Hideaki! He's a big fat liar anyway!"

"Max is right," Tala agreed. "Hideaki is not to be trusted."

"Can we…go and see Kai?" Tyson asked cautiously.

"Tyson! Kai hasn't committed suicide! That was a dream!" Bryan tried to reassure Tyson, but he still wanted to check, to be safe. They all followed Tyson out and up to Kai's room door. Tyson slowly opened it, and found Kai unconscious on the bed. What no one caught on to straight away was the heart monitor. The bleeping had stopped, and it was just registering one long monotonous-sounding line. And that was bad.

"Kai!!!!" Tyson cried out in horror, noticing the heart monitor and the long drawn out noise. Tyson shook Kai repeatedly. "Kai!! Kai this isn't funny! Stop playing around!" suddenly Tyson noticed the broken glass on the floor, and the cuts on Kai's hand. "Oh shit…" Tyson cursed. "It…wasn't a dream…"

"What?!!" Ray cried out in horror.

"Just get a doctor…NOW RAY!!!" Tyson bellowed to Ray, and he darted out of the room and down the corridor. "What idiot leaves a guy like Kai alone in a room with a bottle of morphine pills?!!" Tyson growled. Within moments, three doctors and two nurses were in the room, and they ushered everyone out.

"Kai…" Max looked at the closed door, unable to believe Kai had taken his own life. Tyson's fists were clenched furiously. He _had_ to be in there. For Kai. Ray felt the same way. He was the closest to Kai out of the group, and he wanted his friend to be alright. Tyson and Ray took matters into their own hands, and stormed in, making sure the others remained outside. They watched on as all sorts of chaos ensued.

"We need to get his heart beating again, then focus on getting the morphine out of his system," one doctor said.

"Charge the defibrillators. OK, and clear!" another doctor started to try and jump-start Kai's heart with defibrillators.

"No pulse, no respiratory action," a nurse replied back.

"Again. Clear!" the doctor tried again. Still nothing.

'Don't quit Kai…' Ray thought. 'Dranzer please…don't let him quit…' Ray had almost totally forgotten that he still had Dranzer. He delved into his pocket and pulled out the blue Beyblade. Dranzer's bit seemed to glow, as if he wanted to be released to protect Kai. 'I know you want to be there for Kai Dranzer, but we can't do anything for him now but hope.' they tried the defibrillators twice more, still with no luck.

"Kai don't give up!!" Ray yelled, as the doctor tried once again. A loud bleep was heard, emanating from the heart monitor. Then another. Then another.

"Pulse rate is climbing, respiratory functions slow," the nurse replied.

"Kai!!" Tyson called out in joy. Kai was alive. Just about.

"You two should leave now," a nurse looked over to Tyson and Ray, a supportive smile on her face. "Your friend will be in good hands now, don't worry." and so Tyson and Ray ushered themselves out.

"Are you two _insane_?! Or are you just stupid?!" Ian hissed. "What did you go and do that for?!"

"I refuse to let Kai quit on us!" Ray stated, glaring daggers over in Ian's direction. Tyson nodded in whole-hearted agreement.

"But Ray…" Max began. Ray turned to face his troubled blonde friend. "Maybe Kai…maybe Kai wants to die now…he's been through so much these last few weeks…"

"Shut up _now_ Max! Don't you even _think_ of finishing that sentence!!" Ray snapped.

"Ray there was no need to snap at Max!" Kenny argued. "Max has a good point. Kai is in a lot of pain, that much is evident from his suicide attempt. He's losing his mind now, and he'll keep trying to kill himself until he succeeds. Only Kai knows how he feels Ray. And he must be feeling awful to want to kill himself. I mean, Kai is so together and seems to be a lot more level-headed than to drop to killing himself just to--" Kenny's argument was cut short as Ray's hand impacted with his face. Everyone gasped in horror.

"Ray!! What did you do that for?!!" Max fumed, pulling Kenny back to his feet, Kenny nursing his sore cheek.

"I don't have to listen to him bullshitting on about how Kai hasn't got a hope in heaven of living! Kai won't give up! He's too strong for that!" Ray snapped back, his anger mounting.

"Ray…you didn't have to hurt Kenny to get your point across," Tyson said, looking to the angered Chinese teen. "I want Kai to live as much as you do, but they have a right to their opinion. Don't beat them up for it."

"I don't have to stand here and listen to this! I'm out of here!" and so Ray stormed past them and out of the hospital.

"Ray!" Tyson called, about to go after him, but Tala's heavy hand fell on his shoulder.

"Leave him Tyson," Tala said, looking off in the direction where Ray had gone. "Let him have time to cool down…"

~~***~~

Ray had stormed away furiously from the centre of Moscow. Before long, he came across a small church, that looked so beautiful topped in the freshly fallen snow. Feeling a compelling urge for peace and silence, Ray went in and took to wandering the cemetery. Despite the frost and chill of the season, the graves of those who rested here were decorated with beautiful fresh flowers. All of the people here had to be missed. The thought of laying Kai to rest here boiled Ray's blood. Kai wasn't old enough o die yet. He had barely started to live. He came across a decadent-looking headstone, that was carved in the shape of an angel. The angel seemed to be holding her hands out to Ray. Ray knelt down and read the inscription carved at the angel's feet.

"Here rests the body of Aoi Hiwatari…" Ray's eyes widened, unable to believe what he was seeing. But before Kai had come to Russia he had lived in Japan with his parents. Why was Kai's mother buried here, in Russia?

"Such a pretty young woman," an old man interrupted Ray's thoughts, noticing whose grave Ray was examining. The old man was clearing the footpath of snow. He stopped and looked over at Ray. "She lit up so many lives. That son of hers was her greatest treasure, by far."

"Did you know her?" Ray asked.

"Oh aye, I knew her. I'm not Russian myself, but her mother was, and so was she. She was born not too far from here. I remember that."

"She died in Japan though…"

"Oh her father was Japanese. He moved them all out there when she was a teenager, and that's where she met him."

"Hideaki?"

"That's the one. He was always a nasty piece of work. I was a good friend of her family, and it broke my heart to have to bury her here. Her little boy looked totally devastated."

"Kai…"

"Yeah! That's his name! World champion Beyblader I hear he is now. Teamed up with the Bladebreakers."

"I'm one of the Bladebreakers…I'm a friend of Kai's, my name is Ray."

"I thought you were. My grandchildren are into Beyblading. They love it."

"Well…yeah so do I…" Ray's gaze fell to the floor. Kai's condition still troubled him. Did this man already know though?

"You seem troubled by something. What's wrong?" the old man asked, taking a seat on the bench opposite Aoi's grave, and ushering for Ray to join him.

"It's Kai…he's very badly hurt and everyone thinks he's going to die…" Ray began, taking a seat beside the old man.

"Oh, I bet Hideaki planned his death right from the word go," the man replied, pointing to an empty spot beside Aoi. "That's for Kai. For all these years its been kept for him, and now it looks like he's gonna be using it."

"But…he can't die!!" Ray protested.

"Ray you can't change life, nor can you prevent it from ending. If nature calls for Kai to die, then there is nothing you can do to stop it. This must be Kai's turn. God has decided."

"This isn't fair…" Ray felt tears trail down his frost-stung cheeks.

"Life is full of meetings and partings. That is the way of it. You have to make the most of the time you have left with Kai, and you have to learn how to say goodbye."

"It's too hard!"

"Who said dying was easy? Imagine how Kai would feel if you got all over-emotional on him?"

"He'd hate me for that."

"Well then. If there was ever an opportune moment to learn how to let go, you're in it." Ray blinked furiously to try and prevent an outburst or tears. This old man was right. He knew he was. It was just hard to accept. "I'll be here to see to his grave if and when he does die. Like I've been seeing to his mother's for all these years."

"Thanks for the talk," Ray smiled, brushing his eyes dry. "But tell me…why was she brought here? She could have just been buried in Japan."

"Because Russia was her home. She would have wanted it that way. For her, and for Kai." the old man smiled and pulled himself to his feet. "Well I have work to do, and so do you." Ray nodded. Yes, he did. They said their farewells and Ray walked off back towards the hospital. For Kai's sake he had to do it. He had to let go. He had to say goodbye.

__

Nobody ever said

Life would be easy

New people

New faces

New dreams

New places

Just keep in your heart

Those you hold dear

So even if they

Are to disappear

They'll never be gone

They'll never go far

Just look deep within you

And you'll see your star

SN: Here's part 17! After some personal emotional turmoil involving next door's puppy being killed, it's finally been posted. And have I not already said there will be NO pairings in this fic? No Ray/Kai, and no Tyson/Kai either. No way. I said it would be clean (haha) and so it shall. Lyrics in first paragraph are from Helium by Feeder: a great British rock band. Booya.

Now there is a way all the reviewers can get what they wants from the ending. But to do that…we're gonna need to kill off someone, namely Kai. What I want you as a reader to think about it do you think Kai deserves to be tortured on or do you think he's earned a break? Want Kai to be happy or endlessly tormented by his father? Your choice…later days! ^^


	18. The Great Hideaki Plot

Eighteen

I'm talking to myself in public  
Dodging glances on the train  
And I know, I know they've all been talking about me  
I can hear them whisper  
And it makes me think there must be something wrong with me  
Out of all the hours thinking  
Somehow I've lost my mind

"Ray…" Kenny said bluntly as Ray returned from his walk. Ray looked down at him. He was still sour after the whole hitting incident.

"I'm sorry about how I reacted Kenny. I shouldn't have lashed out," Ray replied. "I was being totally irrational, and I was only thinking about what I'd want, not what Kai would want."

"I'm glad you finally see sense," Kenny said, getting to his feet, and small smile crept onto his face.

"We need to ask Kai what he wants, that's the only way to know for sure," Max stated. That was the only way. Even Ray knew that now.

"Have the doctors left him yet?" Ray asked.

"Oh yeah, they left a while ago," Tyson replied. "We were just waiting to see if you'd show first before we went to talk to him."

"Well I'm here now. Let's go." they all nodded and slowly walked in. Kai's breathing was heavy and slow. He was struggling, and the struggle was more evident now that it ever had been. It made Ray realise: Kai was human. He had weaknesses just like the rest of humanity, and he wasn't indestructible, as Kai had led them to believe he was. He knew Kai would be ashamed of himself, showing so much weakness before his team, but like Kai had a choice in the matter.

"Hey…Kai…" Tyson began slowly, to see if he'd get a response. Kai's gaze was fixed on the window.

"Why are you here?" a small reply escaped from Kai's lips. His voice was hoarse and barely audible above the bleeping noise of the life support machine.

"We came to see you Kai, to see how you are," Ray replied.

"Get out," came Kai's response, his voice gaining some volume. "Get out and leave me alone."

"No Kai. Now isn't the time for you to be alone."

"Get this through your thick head Ray: I want to be left alone. So take yourself and your pep squad out of here!!" Kai fumed, snapping his gaze from the window and straight into Ray's worried amber eyes.

"Kai you tried to kill yourself. We want to know why," Tyson replied on Ray's behalf, as Ray was taken aback by Kai's anger.

"Why do you think, loud mouth?!" Kai sneered. "I have zero and nothing else worth staying alive for. Like you people give a damn about me. You never did! If you cared, you'd get the hell out of my life!!"

"Kai of course we care about you!" Max's desperate response came. "It's because we care so much that we won't let you go if you want to fight! Are you going to let your father bring you down?!"

"He already has," Kai's voice quietened, and he seemed to calm down. "You idiots don't see it do you? I'm dying, and I have been since I lost my mother. A part of me never recovered from watching her die. I don't just hate Russia because of Biovolt: I hate it because it was here where my mother was buried!"

"I know, I saw her grave," Ray interjected, getting glares off of everyone, Kai included.

"Why did you…" Kai began, but as he struggled to breathe, he couldn't finish his sentence. Ray took a seat by Kai's side and handed him an oxygen mask.

"Because I needed to find a reason to let you go," Ray replied. "If you fight now Kai, that's all well and good for you, but if you fall now, at least you'll be back with her."

"Ray…" Kai tried to talk again, but found that sleep was starting to take him and he fell backwards gently onto the pillows.

"He's exhausted," Kenny noted.

"If Kai gives up now…Hideaki will gain global control with his army, won't he?" Max asked, examining the faces of his friends.

"He probably will," Ray replied. "But that's why we need Kai for one last job."

"What do you mean?" Tyson asked.

"We need Kai to stay alive long enough to lure Hideaki out of hiding and get him arrested before he stirs up trouble."

"How is Kai supposed to do that? He can barely even breathe let alone walk around!"

"We just need word to leak out to Hideaki that Kai survived the explosion at The Abbey and that'll be enough."

"You seem to be forgetting Boris…"

"Oh forget him. Without some high paying millionaire behind him, he's no threat to anyone."

"If you say so Ray…"

"But how are we supposed to get this information out to Hideaki?" Max asked.

"Any way we can," Ray replied. "We'll have to talk to Kai about this all first, to make sure he'll cooperate and accept that Hideaki will be paying him a visit sometime soon. If Kai decides that once Hideaki is behind bars that he just wants to die, then that's his choice. We can't try to influence what Kai's choice is."

"OK, you're crazy Ray," Tyson sighed. "What do we do when Hideaki actually gets here then? He's gonna wanna take a piece out of Kai, so how can we be sure Kai will be OK?"

"There's an emergency alarm button in every room right?"

"Right…"

"So when the opportune moment strikes, Kai hit's the button, about 10 of Russia's police officers storm in and arrest him. Then he's sentenced and put in prison."

"You make it sound easy…"

"It will be easy enough. It's just getting Hideaki here and getting Kai to cooperate that's gonna be the bitch."

"We need the cooperation of the Russian police as well Ray," Kenny added. Ray nodded.

"Yeah, but they won't be too hard to persuade. Hideaki has been in their bad books for a while now. And if they need persuasion, we just tell them about Aoi Hiwatari's murder."

"How will that help?" Max asked.

"Of course! Aoi Hiwatari was an important figurehead to the Russian people before she gave up on politics and settled down to start a family! She was a link between Russian and Japanese relations! The people loved her! So if the Feds find out she was murdered by Hideaki they'll want his head on a platter!" Kenny cried in realisation.

"Wow, she was that popular huh?" Tyson asked, slightly bemused by it all.

"It would seem so yeah. What would really help now is if Kai's grandparents were still alive," Ray replied, dropping into thought.

"What, you mean his mother's side?" Tyson asked.

"That's right."

"Why in the world would we want to or need to talk to them?!"

"They have no idea their daughter was murdered, and that their grandson's life hangs in the balance. An operation like this may need funding from somewhere at some stage, so that's where I'm hoping the Hiwataris will come in."

"How much free time do you have Ray?" Tyson asked, a resigned look on his face. "You think too much."

"Do you think Kai's grandparents will help us Ray?" Max asked.

"I hope so Max," Ray replied. "I really hope so."

~~***~~

Before long, the Bladebreakers found themselves in front of a small snowy cottage that was situated near the church where Kai's mother was buried. They were all bundled up in warm clothes, as it was well into the minus degrees outside.

"Well…go knock Ray!" Max nudged the neko forward and he slowly walked up the path and to the door. He knocked gently, hoping not to cause an avalanche, as a vast amount of snow seemed to linger just above Ray's head. After a short pause the door was opened by an elderly woman. She started speaking in Russian.

"I'm sorry ma'am…I don't understand you…" Ray said slowly.

"Katherine? Who's at the door?" a man's voice interjected. An elderly man arrived at the door, and he seemed more evidently Japanese to Ray. "Oh I'm sorry, my boy, my wife here doesn't speak much English anymore. After our daughter passed away all those years ago, she can't bring herself to even mutter a word of English."

"That's alright sir. My friends and I were just wondering if…your daughter's name was, by chance, Aoi Hiwatari?" Ray asked, slowly and cautiously. He didn't want to hurt of offend anyone, but it seemed that was just what he did. The elderly woman threw her hands to her face, started to scream in Russian, and ran back into the house.

"Yes…how in the world did you know?" the old man asked. The rest of the Bladebreakers made their way up the path and joined Ray.

"My name is Ray Kon, and these are my friends Max, Tyson and Kenny. We're the Bladebreakers," Ray introduced his friends to the man.

"I know who you boys are," the old man smiled. "You beat Voltaire's boys, right? Good on you too. I never liked that man. Far too callous."

"He raised your grandson."

"Grandson?" the old man seemed to have forgotten all about Kai, until the bustling footsteps of the old woman were heard as she charged to the door. Ray blinked in bemusement.

"This is him! This is our Kai!" the old woman said firmly in English, pointing out Kai's picture in a Russian newspaper after the Bladebreakers' victory at the Biovolt stadium.

"Oh yes! Kai! Now I remember!" the old man laughed. "It's quite amazing really, he's our only grandchild and I forgot about him! You boys must be his team mates! Come in, please!" even the old woman stepped aside and warmly welcomed the Bladebreakers into their home. It was very warm and inviting, and a roaring log fire was burning in the living room. They all took a seat, the Bladebreakers removing their hats and jackets.

"What brings you to our door?" the old woman asked, handing out hot chocolate to the boys, each accepting one graciously, even Tyson, for whom grace was not a natural instinct.

"It's about Kai," Ray began, sipping the drink slowly before placing it on the table in front of him. "He's…well…not in a good way right now."

"What do you mean?" the woman's smile seemed to ice over.

"He's been severely injured. He's not recovering as well as we'd hoped he would, and we're afraid he may die soon." the old woman started to scream to her husband in Russian again. She seemed distraught and incredibly upset.

"How did this happen?" the old man asked.

"Kai's father Hideaki. He's been abusing Kai for some time now, and Kai's body has taken all it can take," Ray replied.

"Oh no….not Hideaki…he's a gentleman!"

"He's no gentleman, sir. He murdered your daughter and he's now set on killing Kai."

"Hideaki…murdered my only daughter…" the old man was at a loss for words. The old woman was in tears, screaming her sorrows in Russian.

"He attacked her with a hammer and beat her until she was dead. That's what Kai told us. Kai was there, Kai saw it happen," Ray said, trying his best to be as sincere as he could.

"No wonder Kai seemed so subdued at her funeral…" the old man finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together. "After all these years we find out the man we let our daughter marry was her killer. And now he's going to kill our grandson. Well no more. We will not let Kai be hurt by this murderer!"

"Then help us," Ray pleaded. Silence befell the room. The old woman conferred briefly in Russian with her husband before the pair nodded in agreement.

~~***~~

"You did WHAT??!!!" Kai's voice was back, and it had lost none of its sharp anger. Kai was furious. "What were you morons THINKING??!!! If Hideaki comes here, he'll try to kill me!!!"

"We won't let that happen Kai, don't worry," Tyson tried to reassure his infuriated friend, but it was all in vain.

"You didn't even have the decency to warn me he was coming," Kai fumed in between gritted teeth.

"He's been spotted in town and he's heading this way," Ray said. "We have Russian police on standby in the hospital, and your grandparents are here too. They want to see your father go down for what he's done."

"Well I do too, but why in fuck do _I_ have to be the bait??!!" Kai yelled. The familiar sound of metal footsteps were heard on the ward. Kai's heart started to race, which was evident to all by the increasing speed of the bleeping noises from the life support machine.

"Kai calm down, we won't let him kill you," Kenny reassured Kai as they all made for the spare exit door. "We're watching your every move, so don't worry about it. We'll be in here and have him busted before he can even try a thing." and with that the Bladebreakers were gone. The metal footsteps grew louder, and no matter how hard Kai tried, he couldn't calm himself down. He was in sonic panic mode, and there was no way to shut that stupid machine up without putting a severe dent in his own life. Before Kai knew what to do, Hideaki was in the doorway.

"I thought you would have died in that explosion. But then again you _are_ my son…" Hideaki sneered, making his way over to Kai.

"What are you here for?" Kai asked, his heart rate spiking not just because he was terrified.

"To finish the job I started. To kill you," Hideaki smiled, pulling out a small vial from his pocket. "You don't have to worry about this Kai. It isn't heroin. It's a special poison I acquired in India a long time ago. I saved it especially for you. It will kill you slowly and painfully, and there is no antidote."

"Go ahead…do it!" Kai urged him. Hideaki looked into Kai's eyes briefly, and then did a double take.

'What?!' Hideaki thought, looking at Kai for longer. The more he looked into his son's eyes, the more he seemed to see Aoi standing in front of him. 'Great…my conscience is kicking in now!'

"Why are you waiting?! You want to kill me…why aren't you doing it?!!" Kai yelled, pushing him on further.

'Why am I hesitating?! This is what I've been waiting for!' it suddenly hit Hideaki. 'No…I never wanted this…this is what _my_ father wanted…all I ever wanted was a family…I changed, why did I change? I can't even remember anymore…'

"Why the hell are you just standing there like a goldfish?!" Kai growled.

"Kai…" Hideaki's gaze melted from an expression of anger to an expression of fear. He dropped the vial and it smashed on the floor. Hideaki fell to his knees. He couldn't do it. He'd done it once, he couldn't do it again. He couldn't kill her.

__

We face each other from different sides

The anger burns can't remember why

It's kinda crazy to cause such pain

Our foolish pride makes us hate this way

We watch our world fall apart

Tell me what good is winning when you lose your heart

SN: Super sorry to all who wanted me to update sooner. My lack of updating is due to three main reasons: 1. My internet connection has been being a bitch - 2. I've not been very well, and when I'm ill I can't write - 3. I've been getting homework thrown at me from every corner. I've been on an up and down yo-yo of depression, and its been awful. But I'm on the mend now, so updates should return to their normal cycle.

Opening paragraph is from Unwell by Matchbox Twenty, and the closing paragraph is from Brother My Brother by Blessid Union Of Souls. Don't flame me if you can help it. As I said I've been super depressed as of late, and it's just been my birthday. Won't tell you how old I am. Woo hoo…

If you DON'T want Kai to die, now is the time to say so! The story is ending within the next two updates after this one, so if you wanna change where the tide is heading, let me know. Any ideas of any kind will be more than welcome.


	19. The Beginning Of An End

Nineteen

__

Does it kill   
Does it burn   
Is it painful to learn   
That it's me that has all the control   
Does it thrill   
Does it sting   
When you feel what I bring   
And you wish that you had me to hold

"What the fuck is your problem?" Kai growled. "I don't understand you, father. Not too long ago you were ready and willing to kill me, and now you're on your knees like a child?!"

"It's not like that…" Hideaki mumbled, refusing to meet Kai's infuriated garnet eyes.

"Well what is it like then?! It's a bit late to change your mind and want to play family with me now! I don't want you in my life! And if my mother had known what a moron you were going to become, she never would have stayed married to you!!"

__

~~In the next room~~

"What's going on Chief?" Ray asked, looking at the monitor which was connected to the camera rigged in Kai's room. "Hideaki stopped. Why did he stop?"

"I'm not sure…" Kenny looked at the screen, as confused as any of them. "Maybe his conscience finally kicked in? Who knows…"

__

~~In Kai's room~~

"This isn't how I wanted things to be Kai…" Hideaki began.

"Oh boo hoo. I'll cry you a river when I learn how to give a damn," came Kai's sarcastic reply.

"It was my father."

"It could be your canary for all I care. You're no one to me now."

"He moulded me this way."

"Well now isn't that weird? He did a very similar thing to me too! But then again, who sent me there to start with? I wonder…"

"Can the sarcasm."

"I'm being sarcastic? You think I'm being sarcastic?! You should try being around me almost all the time! Ask any of the Bladebreakers! They'll tell you straight out that all of this isn't sarcasm."

"You've grown bitter."

"Whose fault is that?!"

"Kai…"

"Look, you came here to kill me. So I'm waiting. Where's the death? Where's the pain? Where's the blood? I'm waiting for it! Come on you coward! Do what you came here to do! Kill me!!"

__

~~In the next room~~

"Has Kai lost his sane mind?!" Tyson cried out in horror. "He's _asking_ Hideaki to go ahead and kill him! Is he _insane_?!!"

"Maybe he's thinking that by goading Hideaki, he can break him down," Max replied, sounding like he knew what he was talking about. The room fell silent as all eyes fell on him.

"Max…as interesting a theory as that is, I think it's the drugs talking," Ray replied to Max's statement. "Kai's totally delirious and he has no idea what the hell he's doing goading Hideaki the way he is! He's gonna get himself hurt!"

"Well until Hideaki makes his move we can't spring on him," Kenny stated. "If we go in any sooner we could do more harm than good."

"I guess…that makes sense…" Tyson said in a confused manner, rubbing his head in an effort to understand the Chief's plan.

__

~~In Kai's room~~

"Is that what you really want? You want to die now?" Hideaki asked, lifting his gaze finally to meet Kai's.

"Well, I was expecting my demise sometime soon anyway. I hate being disappointed. It's either die by your hand or watch the Bladebreakers cry their stupid hearts out when I tell them I just want to die anyway. May as well go out with a bang," Kai replied, a nasty grin developing on his stained face.

"Your philosophy of life is pretty jarred."

"This coming from you is very funny."

"I wasn't always like this."

"Hard to believe."

"I wanted to be a father. I wanted a son more than anything."

"The one thing that Santa never brought you as a kid was someone to mutilate and dismember. What a shame."

"Sardonic little bastard, aren't you?"

"It's a genetic trait."

"You must get a real thrill out of tweaking my last nerve, kid."

"It's a good way to spend you final hours of life, right?"

"If you're twisted."

"Well then ,we have something in common."

__

~~In the next room~~

"Kai really should put a cork in the sarcasm now," Ray said worryingly. "He's going to get himself killed if he keeps tweaking Hideaki like this!"

"I still think it's a part of Kai's own plan," Max muttered.

"Remember Ray, we can't interfere yet," Kenny replied to Ray, no one had heard Max it would seem.

"Again with the incomprehensible logic…" Tyson sighed.

__

~~In Kai's room~~

"You picked up a lot of things from me Kai," Hideaki noticed.

"Hope I didn't pick up your mentality complex," Kai retorted.

"But you look a lot like your mother."

"Luckily for me. I would have jack knifed off of a bridge years ago if I had turned out like you."

"Funny."

"I thought so."

"Am I going to be stuck in this war of words with you forever Kai?"

"Of course not. Just do what you came here to do and I'll shut up."

"Of course you will; you'll be dead."

"My point exactly."

"You have a disturbing preoccupation with death."

"Another charming trait I received from you."

"You know, you're really starting to piss me off."

"Good. Then we can actually get down to some business."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I want to know why. Why in your right mind you killed my mother. No bullshit."

"No bullshit eh? Well, OK then. I just did, alright? She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, doing much like you are now; tweaking my last nerve. So I did what I had to do to shut her up."

"You silenced her forever, and left me to fend for myself at The Abbey."

"Bingo."

"I hate you," Kai muttered, but it was audible to Hideaki. It suddenly came back into his memory that Kai's mother had said the exact same thing to him before he killed her.

"You hate me, do you?" Hideaki sneered.

"Oh yeah. I don't know why I ever tolerated you." another sentence that rang a bell with Hideaki. Kai's mother had said that too. The longer he looked at Kai, the more he grew to see his dead wife sitting before him. He could even hear her voice.

'Why are you such a bastard?' she asked, her deep garnet eyes piercing him. 'You seem to enjoy seeing others in pain. Is that how you always wanted to be? Did you always dream of being a monster?'

"Maybe…it's difficult to remember," Hideaki replied slowly.

'Bullshit. You get a thrill from it. I can tell. I can see it in your face. You got a huge buzz every single time you cut me. Every wound you placed in me sent you more joy.'

"Shut up."

'No. I want you to remember all of this. I want you to remember while you rot in jail that you're nothing but a murderer and a cold blooded killer. You've never loved anyone except yourself and you never will.'

"Shut up!! Shut up bitch shut up!!" Hideaki yelled furiously, lunging for her throat. Kai gasped out in surprise as Hideaki's hands latched around his throat, but he didn't struggle. If he died now, he'd be safe at last. He'd be away from pain, from memory and from the condemnation that was now his life. Kai closed his eyes as his father began to strangle him, and awaited the coming of the Reaper.

__

~~***~~

"OK Chief, if now isn't the time for intervention, I don't know when is!" Tyson cried out, pointing out to Kenny that Kai was being strangled.

"Oh my gosh!" Kenny cried. He obviously hadn't been paying much attention to the screen. Ray kicked the half asleep police officers into gear and they all stormed into the next room. Hideaki was still screaming and cursing at Kai, and even Tyson could see that Kai had given up hope of living.

"You bitch! You stupid dumb ass bitch!" Hideaki yelled, tightening his grip around Kai's neck with every bitter word spoken. Kai's skin began to go pale as it was suffocated of oxygen.

"Why is he speaking to Kai like he's a woman?" Max asked.

"Maybe…Hideaki can see Kai's mother, and not Kai," Ray replied. The police intervened and pried Hideaki's hands from Kai's throat. Kai fell backwards, almost totally lifeless. Hideaki was restrained and placed in handcuffs.

"You're under arrest for one case of murder and another of attempted murder," the chief officer stated to Hideaki, who was fuming.

"Kai! Kai are you OK?!" Ray asked, rushing to his friend's side.

"Kai! Come on don't fade out on us now!" Kenny pleaded.

"Kai?" Hideaki said, looking over to where he thought he was strangling his dead wife. His vision appeared to have cleared, for now he saw his only son, lying back on the bed, pale like a lifeless doll. "And so…history's endless waltz plays on once again," Hideaki smiled darkly before being taken away by the police. Kai's grandparents, whom had also been present at the proceedings, were by their grandson's bedside. His grandmother was weeping, and praying in Russian. His grandfather was unable to comprehend what Hideaki had done. He had taken from them their only daughter, and now, it would seem, he had taken their only grandchild.

__

Life gets colder

As you grow older

All things that live

Must die

Though it will be hard

I cannot discard

My opportunity to say

My goodbye

SN: Back to my writing and feeling so much better ^_^. Thanks to everyone for their Happy Birthday wishes and their continuous, unfaltering support. You make life so much more worthwhile for me, and please take this as a compliment, as mere weeks ago I was on the edge of suicide.

Opening paragraph is from Harder To Breathe by Maroon Five. Don't ask why it's there, cos it just is. No real reason. Yes I know this part is short but I've had a lot to deal with.

I feel I must thank Kemis "I wouldn't know English if it came up behind me and bit me in the ass" the anonymous reviewer. Your flame (which you can get copies of from me cos I removed it from the page, as the reviewer was deemed unworthy to be seen on my reviews page) inspired me to get back on my creative bandwagon. I would hug you for this much needed boost my friend, but I fear for my health. Later days one and all!

PS! Next chapter is the last for this story. You must decide NOW if Kai is to live or die. And on another note, for anyone who thinks my English is bad, I AM English, and I am an honours level student. So, if _my_ English is bad, I can only _imagine_ how bad yours is…*is slightly evil and psychopathic. all wonderful people ignore*


	20. Phoenix

Twenty

__

Heaven calls me

Its so haunting, melodic

It makes me feel safe

I'm closer to her

But further from you

How far away

Is eternal sleep

And how long is an eternity?

"Come on Kai! Don't let this be your end! You deserve better than this ending so open your eyes and stay with us a little while longer!!" Ray pleaded, clutching Kai's cold lifeless hand in desperation. Doctors pushed the Bladebreakers aside and ushered them out of the room. If Kai didn't want to live now, he wouldn't make any effort to survive. The Bladebreakers had been sent to the waiting room of the hospital, which was deserted save for themselves. Tyson paced around endlessly, praying for Kai. Kai's grandparents were also with them, but they were in mourning, for Ray thought that deep inside themselves they knew Kai wasn't going to pull through.

"Kai…is gonna make it, right?" Max asked tentatively, to break the icy silence that had fallen over them.

"I don't know Max. I really don't know," Kenny replied, trying to calm himself by sorting out work with Dizzi. The doors into the waiting room were opened, and the Demolition Boys approached the apprehensive Bladebreakers. Following close behind were the cautious White Tigers and the Majestics.

"What's happened?" Tala asked in a confused manner, noting the frightened looks on the Bladebreakers' faces.

"We saw Hideaki being carted off by the police not too long ago. We thought something had gone down," Enrique said.

"Something went down all right," Tyson replied in a pained fashion. "Kai's just been suffocated. Hideaki strangled him. They're trying to resuscitate him now." there was a long, thoughtful silence.

"It's about time that man was put away," Lee said after careful consideration. "He's done enough. He deserves whatever is dealt to him."

"Word has already leaked out to the press that Hideaki has been captured," Robert said, looking over to the television, which was switched on to a news channel.

"The infamous Hideaki, the oldest son of Voltaire, has finally been apprehended and arrested by Russian authorities," the reporter began. The Bladebreakers, the White Tigers, the Majestics and the Demolition Boys gave the news report their full attention. "Hideaki is being charged with the murder of Russian politician Aoi Hiwatari and for the mutilation and attempted murder of the couple's only son Kai Hiwatari."

"Oldest son?" Tala mused. "So…Hideaki isn't an only child?"

"It would seem that way," Oliver replied. "I wonder what Hideaki's siblings think of their brother's behaviour?"

"If I were any of them, I would have distanced myself from those two years ago," Mariah said, taking a seat and reaffixing her attention to the news report.

"Hideaki was arrested at Moscow Hospital earlier this afternoon, whilst he was seen to be paying his dying son a final visit. Our reporter on the streets of Moscow has more on this shock story," the studio reporter then averted the story over to a reporter out on the streets.

"Newsreaders are so boring," Tyson groaned loudly.

"Tyson shut up!" Max hissed.

"It was here, inside Moscow Hospital, where this violent criminal was captured and arrested by Russian Police," the male reporter began.

"Hey! We're in there!" Tyson pointed out almost excitedly.

"TYSON! SHUT UP!" Max and Ray yelled together.

"Geez…sorry," Tyson huffed.

"In an operation conducted by the friends of Hideaki's son Kai, held in conjunction with the police, this murderer has finally been caught and will finally be brought to justice," the reporter resumed. "Also caught earlier this morning was Boris, an old operative of Voltaire, but had been continuing his services to Biovolt under Voltaire's oldest son. Russia has already lost its finest politician to Hideaki, and now it seems that one of the World Champion Beybladers is also in a critical condition within this hospital."

"Can we switch this crap off yet?" Tyson whined. "We _know_ all of this! We don't need some jock in a suit telling us what we already know!"

"Here with me I have Dorothy, the younger sister of Hideaki," the reporter said suddenly, the camera pulling back to reveal a young woman, bearing a striking resemblance to Hideaki. "Tell me Dorothy, what do you think of your brother's actions and his recklessness as both a husband and a father?"

"I think it's a disgrace," Dorothy replied monotonously. "My brother and I had never seen eye to eye, and I was always fond of his wife and son. It has already broken me to hear that he was her killer, and it will crush me further if he is also responsible for the death of my nephew."

"So…that's Hideaki's sister, hmm?" Johnny sat down opposite Mariah. "She must have heard about her brother from someone and come all the way here to see his trial."

"To watch him crash and burn," Lee added.

"Yeah this is all great and good and all, but why the hell are we sitting here watching something on the TV that's going on all around us?!" Tyson yelled out at last. "We _should_ be going to check up on Kai. Last I checked he was on the shadowed side of dead. In case you guys had forgotten about the whole Hideaki strangling scenario."

"We know Tyson we know," Ray smiled, trying to calm down his restless companion. "But it's not like we can barge in guns blazing while the doctors are trying to save Kai's life. We'll probably give Kai a heart failure."

"Kai always did say we'd be the death of him," Max noted. "He never said it too loudly, but I always heard him."

"You guys will be the death of him if you go in there like that! Let the doctors finish their work. All we can do now is wait," Robert replied, as all who were standing took a seat. This was going to be a long wait.

~~***~~

"Doctor, we have a weak pulse."

"Excellent. How's his blood pressure?"

"75 over 53."

"Too low. We _have_ to raise it somehow."

"Breathing is slow."

"Put him on the respirator. Is the life support monitor still in operation?"

"Yes doctor."

"Doctor, I fear that the abnormal levels of intoxicants in his system may affect the outcome of this procedure."

"We'll have to keep our eyes open for that."

"Blood pressure dropping! 61 over 50! His pulse is erratic! He's going into arrest!"

"Prepare defibrillators! We can't let this one slip!"

__

"What?" through the haze that had descended over his face, Kai could hear voices. Two women and a man were stood around him. A beeping sound to Kai's left grew louder and louder and faster and faster. A sharp pain shot through his entire body before everything, sound and consciousness, started to fade away from reach…

~~***~~

Kai was stood alone, surrounded by the dark that had threatened to engulf him since he was a child.

__

"I'm…dead?" Kai asked to no one in particular. There was no one really for him to ask. Not a living thing stood in the vicinity, and it didn't surprise Kai in the slightest. He couldn't understand how anything could live here.

"Your not dead. Not yet," a voice replied to his question. The voice belonged to a woman.

__

"Who's there?" Kai asked into the blackness.

"Someone who knows you," came the reply.

__

"I'm…not dead then? So if I'm alive, where am I?"

"You're in between being alive and being dead. Here is where you decide whether to give up and accept that your father has won, or you fight on and watch him go down."

__

"I know I'm strong, but I don't know if I have the strength to live anymore."

"listen to me. Walk forwards: to see the scenario that would unfold if you were to give up." Kai hesitantly did as the voice commanded and walked a few steps forward. Sure enough, a small white light began to twinkle out amidst the shadows. Feeling a compelling urge to be away from this nightmare, Kai broke out into a run, running towards the light until it enveloped his whole body.

__

"Where am I now?" Kai asked.

"Just look," the voice replied. An image began to form before Kai's eyes. Before him was his own dead body, pale and lifeless. Surrounding him were the remaining Bladebreakers, the White Tigers, the Majestics and the Demolition Boys. While the three latter teams, save Mariah, had their heads bowed in a mournful solemn respect, the remainder were in tears.

__

"What the hell…?" Kai asked.

"Why did you quit Kai?" Tyson sobbed. "Why did you surrender to him?! He's done what he set out to do now! He's taken your soul! He's won!"

__

"So…I gave up then. I know when I should back down."

"Kai you always told us not to give up and we'd always win! OK maybe not in those words, but we can read between the lines!" Max cried, wiping his red eyes with a tissue. Kai looked towards the door and saw an elderly couple, sobbing in each others' arms.

__

"Are they…?"

"Yes Kai. They are your grandparents," the voice replied. Kai's garnet eyes grew distressed. He couldn't believe they were there, and they'd seen him die. He had never wanted them to see him die, as he had always planned on being at their funeral, not them being at his. "Do you see it yet? Now is not the time to be giving up on life. Life is beautiful Kai. You've forgotten that."

__

"Life isn't so beautiful when you've lost your reason for living."

"And these loyal friends of yours are not worth the fight?" Kai looked over to them again. He frowned deeply. He'd made up his mind. And that was that.

~~***~~

The four Beyblade teams sat anxiously in the hospital waiting room, praying with all their hearts that Kai wouldn't give up on them now. Kai's grandparents were torn. They couldn't bear the thought of losing their only grandchild. A doctor finally entered the room.

"Doctor!!" Tyson leapt to his feet and ran to the doctor. "Is Kai…"

"I'm…I'm so sorry. He went into arrest, his blood pressure dropped too low. We were unable to resuscitate him. He's…he's gone now," the doctor replied grimly, his head bowed. Once he was finished talking he walked away. Kai's grandparents got to their feet and walked down to where Kai was. The four teams followed them. Sure enough, Kai was lying in the hospital bed, cold and lifeless. He seemed peaceful. The life support machine still registered the long line that confirmed what everyone had feared: Kai was dead.

"No…Kai!!!" Tyson screamed, breaking into tears. "You quit on us!! Why did you quit?! Why did you quit Kai?! Why did you surrender to him?! He's done what he set out to do now! He's taken your soul! He's won!" the Majestics, the White Tigers and the Demolition Boys were having a hard time taking the news in. all of them save Mariah, whom was joined in the Bladebreakers' tears, hung their heads in a mournful, solemn respect.

"Kai you always told us not to give up and we'd always win! OK maybe not in those words, but we can read between the lines!" Max cried, wiping his red eyes with a tissue. Things were playing out in the way that Kai had seen them. But it still left one question unanswered: why did Kai surrender after seeing all he had seen? After sobbing for ten minutes, the Bladebreakers finally thought it best to leave. This was all too much for them. For all of them.

"Sleep well Kai. I hope you find your peace now," Ray smiled, placing a hand on Kai's icy forehead. "No matter what, we'll always have you with us in spirit. I understand that you must have fought on to live, but in the end your body couldn't cope. I'll see you on the other side some day Kai. Hopefully when I'm an old man." and with that Ray walked out, joined by his team and the other three. Kai's grandparents stayed for a few minutes longer before taking their leave also.

The streets of Moscow seemed intolerably bright as the morning's sun shone in all of their faces. The hospital was so dark and dank that this sudden blast of pure light stunned the four Beyblading teams for a few minutes.

"Ray?" Max finally asked.

"Yeah Max?" Ray replied.

"How are we going to cope without Kai?"

"I don't really know Max. I don't know."

"He kept us all in line, he was our captain, our leader," Kenny noted.

"Our friend," Tyson added. "Above all Kai was our friend. I know I'm gonna miss him like mad, but Kai wouldn't want us to cry for him for long. He's back with his mother now, and though that's not here with us, we have to accept that as Kai's decision. Dranzer is still with him, and I think we should bury Dranzer with him. Dranzer won't want another master."

"That was a nice speech Tyson," Tala said approvingly. "Very appropriate. We should always remember that this was Kai's decision in the end. He decided that now was a good time to leave us, but he's left us something to work with. We can blade on fuelled by his spirit."

"Well, at least that rules out 4am wake up calls…" Tyson mused, his hands behind his head. "But then again, I'd gladly take the early mornings to have Kai be alright again. Well Kai, wherever you are up in heaven, we miss you."

~~***~~

A spike peaked on the life support machine and a loud bleep followed. This was added to by a succession of five extra bleeps. A pair of garnet eyes slowly fluttered open and slowly examined the surroundings in which they were in. the bleeps were now in a regular rhythmic motion, as the once lifeless body sat up and began to carefully remove all of the tubes and needles that penetrated his skin. He walked over to the table and changed out of the hospital issued garments and into his won, torn, blood-tainted clothing. He firmly secured his red arm guards over his arms and went over to the small bedside table and picked up the launcher and the blue Beyblade. The Bit started to glow a furious scarlet colour, as if the beast laying within was happy.

The two tone haired teenager stood in the doorway to his hospital room. He looked behind him at the blood which painted the once white bed sheets. He smiled.

"You're right," he said, looking up to the heavens. "To quit now would be admitting defeat, and admitting my father has won. I'm not about to let that happen. Thank you….mother." and with that he turned and left, his white scarf billowing out behind him and he did so.

~~***~~

Smoke began to puff out of the chimney that sat atop a small cottage in the outskirts of Moscow. An elderly couple were resident there, still in mourning at the loss of their grandson. It had been a week since he had died, and to add insult to injury, it was now apparent that his body had been stolen, for it was now no longer in the possession of the doctors or the staff at the mortuary. The old woman was at the stove, removing some fresh cakes and placing them on the window ledge to cool. Her husband was preparing a fire to boil water for tea.

"Katherine, we must find a use for our mourning, we cannot mourn for him forever," the old man said finally to break the silence between them.

"Oh, Dmitri, we barely were able to mourn our own daughter! Let me mourn my only grandchild!" the old woman replied, the sorrow still webbed into her words. It was obvious to him now that the scars were never going to heal. A knock came upon the wooden front door. " I shall see to it. It is most likely someone trying to sell us double glazing again." the old woman sighed, dropping down her tea cloth and walking over to the front door. The old man was on his feet and had followed her to the door. The old couple got the surprise of their lives when they saw who was stood before them. The familiar sight of the two tone haired teenager, with his soft familiar garnet eyes, brought them to tears of joy.

"Hi. I'm home," the teen said, a small pleased smile on his face. The couple threw their arms around him, sobbing in joy. The phoenix had found his way out of darkness and back to the light. The phoenix had risen from the ashes. He was reborn.

__

And though

I know

The world of real emotion has surrounded me

I won't give in to it

Now

I know

That forward is the only way my heart can go

I hear your voice calling out to me

"You'll never be alone"

SN: That is it! Finished! Kaputt! Finito! All done! So those who called for death sorta got what they asked for as did those who asked for life. Thanks is to be given to all, and I can't just put out a list cos there are so many of you!! ^__^. I love you all!!! Thank you for getting me to over the 200 mark, its more than I ever dreamed of, and to all those reviewers who got in touch with me via e-mail like Lissom-Howler, Elcy Name and Maeris, and those who inspired me to write, like TigerTerror, treachery89 and Cold Heritage, I love you and thank you!!! And obviously you readers deserve the biggest round of applause. *claps* I am just an artist. You guys are what make my stuff great. *tear*. I'm getting all choked. This is really over…

Last paragraph was from Real Emotion by Jade From Sweetbox, better heard on the Final Fantasy X-2 game. I like the song, it seems to glue with me. It's either that or Hilary Duff. Tough…haha.

Could I have done more to this ending? Could I add to this story? Could I make a sequel?! (Haha perish the thought XD) You tell me. Go forth, review, and thankies!!!


	21. Epilogue Never Letting Go

Epilogue

__

Everything's so blurry and everyone's so fake

Everybody's empty and everything is so messed up

Preoccupied without you I cannot live at all

My whole world surrounds you I stumble then I crawl

And you could be my someone you can be my scene

You know that I'll protect you from all of the obscene

I wonder what you're doing I wonder where you are

There's oceans in between us but that's not very far

It had only been four weeks but it felt like four years. Life was quiet without Kai pushing the Bladebreakers around. His cold and demanding nature, which was once the bane of Tyson's existence, was now something he yearned to know again. Things hadn't been normal since Kai had died.

"We have to get back into training, guys," Kenny said to break the awkward silence between all of them. Small blossoms fell all around them as they sat in the serene atmosphere of the Granger family temple. "Kai would be disgraced to see us slacking like this. He would have killed us!"

"Doesn't matter that much now Kenny," Tyson sighed. "Kai's dead now. He's gone. We can't do anything now to bring him back, and that's that."

"I hate to say this but I agree with Tyson," Ray nodded, looking up. "I mean, life just seems so…boring without someone or something to motivate us. I guess for the most part Kai was our motivation."

"The urge we all had to beat him and show him up fuelled our ambitions," Tyson continued. "But now…we have nothing."

"Kai wouldn't appreciate hearing all of you talk like that," Kenny said, closing Dizzi's lid and looking over to his downtrodden friends.

"He can't hear us Kenny," Max sighed. "Let's just face it; no one here can out-captain Kai! He was…"

"Are you all still moping?" a familiar American voice interjected. They all looked over to the temple gates to see the All Stars team, and Max's mother Judy.

"In case it slipped your mind, Michael, our team captain died four weeks ago. We're entitled to mourn," Ray growled in response. Michael's tone had angered Ray greatly. They weren't moping.

"Yeah, I know that," Michael said, trying to ease the tension between himself and Ray. "But you guys have been like this for way too long! Get your asses in gear and get back to business! You're world champion Beybladers! Don't spend your moment in the sun on you asses!"

"Michael has a point Max," Judy agreed. "You can't be sad forever. Eventually you'll have to move on with your lives and accept that Kai is gone and isn't coming back."

"But…we miss him. We never thought we would but we do," Max replied tearfully. Judy sat down beside her son and put an arm around him.

"Maxie, it's always painful to lose a friend, but you have to understand; everything that lives eventually will die. It's how life works. It was Kai's time, and destiny called him up to heaven. Just think of it like that," Judy replied soothingly.

"We understand what you guys are all getting at," Tyson said, getting to his feet. "But we all have to deal with our mourning in our own way. I'm sure we'll move on in time, but now just isn't that time. We're just not…ready to accept the hand fate has dealt us."

"I'm with Tyson," Ray concurred. Out of nowhere, a flash of light streaked through the sky, taking Tyson by surprise. He looked down at his feet to see a blue blur spinning at his feet. Was it…a Beyblade? No…no it couldn't be Dranzer…could it? Tyson looked around to see where the Beyblader was hiding but he couldn't see anyone.

"You disappoint me Tyson," a familiar voice came from somewhere nearby. "I thought you were a world champion. I guess you're nothing but a world chump!"

"Hey! Come out here and say that to my face!" Tyson growled, a once thought burnt out flame rekindling inside of his spirit.

"Why should I? You're weak! And it's about time I kicked you back into shape, Tyson!" the voice was coming from the trees. Tyson looked over towards them, and from the branches leapt down a two-tone haired teenager. He had deep garnet eyes and a stern look lay deep within them. His face was no longer pale, no longer blood stained, no longer torn with pain and memory. Tyson's eyes widened. He could barely believe who he was looking at.

"Oh my…" Judy was stunned.

"It can't be!!" Max cried out almost joyfully.

"It is!! It is!!" Kenny screamed out.

"Kai!!!" Ray and Tyson said together, running towards their captain. He wasn't dead. He was very much alive. Everyone could see that. Tears tore down the Bladebreakers' faces and they ran forward to greet their captain. Instead of scolding his team mates for their over-emotional and erratic behaviour, as he would normally, he just smiled and stood beneath the shade of the tree as the arms of his friends closed in around him. He had found his freedom. He had found his peace.

~~***~~

Another warm morning in China descended over the grassy plains and glistened off of the surface of the rivers and lakes. Mariah was sat alone on a rock looking out at the glorious morning that was spread before her. It didn't feel so glorious. She knew how terrible Ray was feeling after what had happened to Kai, and she felt terrible that she couldn't be there for him when he needed her.

"Mariah…" Kenneth came up behind her. She turned and looked at him. "Mariah are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine Kenneth," she replied, wiping her eyes.

"Are you still worried about Ray?"

"Yeah…I hope he's alright…"

"Good thing there's a telephone nearby. You can call him if you really want to."

"No…that's alright. I don't think he'd want me to bother him."

"Mariah!! Kenneth!! Gary!!" Lee's voice echoed out across the area. Gary, whom had been lying asleep in the grass, sat up and got to his feet.

"What is it Lee?" Mariah asked.

"I was just off the phone after talking to Ray!!" Lee replied, sounding out of breath and excited. "It's about Kai!!"

"Did they find his body then?" Gary asked.

"Even better!! He showed up at Tyson's house this morning! Alive!!" Lee replied, the excited nature of his being breaking out into his voice at last.

"What?!!" Mariah cried out in joy. "Kai's alive?!!"

"Yeah!! He's been alive all this time!! Ray says that Kai was in Russia for the last four weeks spending time with his family and testifying against his father!! He's alright!!"

~~***~~

The four members of the Majestics were sat around a table at Oliver's French mansion. Not one of them uttered a word.

"We should…give them a call…yeah?" Johnny said at last, his worry at not hearing from the Bladebreakers shining through in his tone.

"Maybe…I mean it's been four weeks!" Oliver said, taking a slow sip from his teacup.

"But this could still be a touchy subject for them to deal with," Robert added. "They still may be in pain."

"That's the truth," Enrique agreed. "You know how close those guys all became. They were all into teamwork and friendship and all that. Even though Kai was a bit of a jerk at the start, he warmed to the idea. We all saw him."

"Master Oliver, there's a collect call here for you from Japan," a butler came in with a white telephone on a tray. "Will you be accepting the charges?"

"Of course!! Bring it here!!" Oliver cried, snatching the phone the moment it was within reach. "Hello?!!…Ray! I haven't heard from you in such a long time! Are you alright?…he's what?!!…you can't be serious!!!…yes of course!!…it really _is_ you!!…I don't believe this!! I must go immediately!! We shall be joining you soon! Au revoir!!" and with that Oliver slammed the phone down in an ecstatic frenzy. Whatever he had heard, it had to have been good.

"What was that all about Oliver?" Johnny asked.

"It's Kai! I spoke to him! He's there! He's alive! We must go! Go to Japan! Go at once! Butler! Fetch my jet! We leave for Japan immediately!!" Oliver said quickly, running about in joy.

"Kai's alive?!! Well let's get going guys!!" Johnny smiled to his team mates and they all jumped to their feet to prepare their travelling things.

~~***~~~

"So…Hideaki is getting a life sentence with his father then?" Bryan smiled. "That must be good news for Aoi's parents."

"It is," Tala smiled in return. "Kai must be pleased with how the proceedings went."

"It was rather considerate of Kai to visit us before he left for Japan," Bryan added, crossing his legs.

"It's good to know he made the right choice," Spencer said, lifting the cup to his lips and taking a drink. The four Demolition Boys were sat around a table in an All-You-Can-Eat buffet restaurant, where they had all sat mere months before, predicting Kai's doom. Today though, they sat to celebrate the outcome of Hideaki's trial, and the joy of finding Kai to be alive and well recovered after his ordeal.

"People should never underestimate the value of life," Tala said, looking at his friends. "Kai learnt that life is not something that can be thrown away when things start to get too difficult. There is always a purpose behind every existence. It took Kai a while to discover where his purpose was, and now that he knows, I think he's going to be just fine."

~~***~~

_I can be seen as one of the luckiest teenagers in the world. How many people in this day and age get a second chance to live? To undo mistakes? To fight for justice? It may all seem like a bunch of nothing to you, but over the last few months and weeks, I've come to realise that I _am_ one of the luckiest teenagers in the world. Not just because I'm alive. I'm not arrogant enough to say I learnt nothing from this entire mess, I am wise enough now to know that keeping things inside of your heart can only make life worse. If I had told the Bladebreakers earlier exactly why I felt uncomfortable about prolonging our stay in Russia, maybe this whole disaster could have been averted. I've learnt from that mistake, and I plan to make an effort to be more open with my friends. They believed in me, and they had faith in me. I'm not really used to that. What's the point of being a good Beyblader if you have no friends to Beyblade with? No friends to motivate you to strive for ultimate perfection? That's what these guys do for me. But they don't just make me want to be a better Blader, they make me want to aim to be a better person. This all sounds really dumb now that I think about it, but it's a truth I never wanted to embrace until now. I want to believe that I will never be the person my father or my grandfather wanted me to be. With my team, I always win, either way the coin spins. I realise that now._

My name is Kai Hiwatari. Life isn't over for me yet, oh no. Life is just beginning.

I'm so high I'm never low

I hold the sky and I'm never letting go

You filled my cup I'm good to go

So shake me up I'm ready to roll

So never letting go

SN: Epilogue is purely for those who wanted the Bladebreakers and the other teams to know that Kai lived. Opener from Blurry and closing paragraph from Out of my Head, both by Puddle of Mudd. Later! ^_~


End file.
